Close Your Eyes and Let Go
by wooster182
Summary: The final chapter is up. Betty and Gio are now dating. Where do they go from here? BxG. DxH
1. Lies and Lunch

This is my first Ugly Betty fiction, so it's certainly my first Gio/Betty. It begins directly after Bananas for Betty and I have yet to decide if I want to update it immediately or wait until "Zero Worship." But I promise that I will update!

Anyway, please read and tell me what you think. Thanks!

Chapter 1

"I don't think I'm the Suarez sister you like."

Gio stood there in front of Hilda, squinting, trying to understand her words for what felt like hours. But after only a few moments, he knew he must say something. She looked determined to believe what she had said and he knew protestations to the contrary would only make them both more uncomfortable. He certainly wasn't going to agree with her out of tact and confusion.

So he was relieved when she stuck out her hand and said, "Goodnight, Gio."

His mouth was an apologetic straight line, his lips curling in. He took her hand, firmly yet gently, saying, "Goodnight, Hilda. I did have fun with you."

She smiled disappointedly again and nodded. "Just be careful," she said, her eyes honest and stern. "She loves Henry."

His eyes darted away from hers. He turned and opened the door in silence, only looking back quickly as a voiceless goodbye before closing the door behind him.

He stood on the Suarezes' front step and looked out at the neighborhood. It was sprinkling and looked liked it was going to start raining again. He contemplated standing there and waiting for the rain to hit his face.

It would be the second hit of the night.

As he walked down the steps towards his van, he let out a sigh. He had had a good time with Hilda. He had thought that she did as well. When he asked her out a second time, he was almost sure that she would accept.

Hilda Suarez was his type. She was like almost every girlfriend he had ever had. She was sweet, vivacious, sexy. She was a girl from the neighborhood. And what was better, and different than other women, was that she was genuine, funny, and had goals.

And she was honest.

When she said that she thought he liked Betty, she meant it. But he didn't understand it. He turned on the ignition and put the van into gear. He began thinking about Betty. It was crazy to think that he liked her.

Not because she wasn't pretty. He was sure that the Mode Girls she worked with must think she was ugly, but he did not agree. Her long hair was so dark and looked soft and touchable. Her eyes were even darker and had such life to them, a laughter and wit and passionate temper that shone brightly with everything she said. She was of a good height and had a nice smile, especially when she was purely happy. And she was an eater. For a cook, that was a great trait to have. To him, she was definitely attractive.

It was _crazy_ for him to like her because she was kind of annoying. Pushy. A know-it-all. She only talked to him when she needed something. She always thought she had a better plan or idea than he did. But he did have to admit that he usually liked her thoughts, even if the way she expressed them could drive him crazy.

There weren't too many women that could make him _quack _in public. And there were fewer that would _woof _in return.

He laughed softly to himself as he parked and got out. It was fun to piss her off. But that did not mean that he liked her. She was a friend. A new friend. There were plenty of reasons why he didn't want her.

She got him fired.

But it did kick start his plans.

She was constantly making a disgusted face when he said something teasingly or sexual.

But her wrinkled nose was cute.

She loved Henry.

But she seemed restless. Unsure.

By the time he got to his apartment and inside his living room, he was more confused than ever. His sister Antonella had mentioned something about him "scamming" on her, but he hadn't paid much attention. And now Hilda was saying it too.

Could he really like her?

Dropping his keys onto the coffee table, he thought back to when he first met her. He did find her charming and he remembered flirting with her initially, but he hadn't done that since he found out about her boyfriend.

He didn't think he was flirting anymore. And even if he was, she wasn't paying attention anyway. Hilda was right. Henry was there for four more months and Betty seemed determined to spend those months worshipping Egg Salad.

Unwillingly, his mind fluttered to the idea of what type of sandwich Betty would see _him_ as. He shook his head, embarrassed of the silly thought.

He took off his leather jacket and started to strip. Once he was only in his boxers, he fell onto his bed with a long breath and closed his eyes. He was exhausted.

When he turned over and gripped the empty pillow beside him, pulling it close to him, words whispered through his mind.

_And then Gio can show you his fancy dance moves._

…………………………………

The sunlight came through the window and warmed Henry's face, waking him up. He stretched and before he opened his eyes, he slid his hand over to Betty's side of the bed. But he only felt sheets. As he became more awake, he heard blow-dryer and could smell the sweet, fruity fragrance of body wash.

He smiled at the thought of her being damp and wanted to snuggle his nose into her neck and smell her warm, feminine perfume.

Last night had ended well once they had made up after their fight. They had both decided that they just wanted each other. What would happen in four months could be forgotten for the time being.

He was certainly ready to forget about Giovanni Rossi. Betty had made it clear the night before that she didn't want or need him to be like Gio, but he still wasn't sure. She didn't realize how often she spoke of him and what he thought.

But he pushed that fear away. Gio didn't have her heart. Henry did. And he planned on keeping it.

Looking over at the clock, he saw it was only 8:00. When he heard the blow-dryer shut off, he called into the bathroom, saying, "Betty, what are you doing up so early? It's Saturday."

She peeked her head out the door while she put an earring in her left ear. "I know. I was going to go home and check in."

He flinched when she still referred the Suarez house as her home but chose to ignore it. "Is everything okay?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I just wanted to see how Hilda's date went last night."

He swallowed. "Can't you just call her?"

She gave him an exasperated look. "Henry, this was the first date she's been on since Santos died."

He looked down at his hands. "I know. I'm sorry. But they seemed to be having fun."

She went back into the bathroom to finish her earrings and makeup. "She was pretty drunk."

He sat up. "Hilda knows how to take care of herself."

Betty made a face in front of the mirror but didn't say anything. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she was ready and picked up her purse. "I'll be back in a little while. Then I thought we could get some lunch."

"Sounds good," he said sweetly and kissed her goodbye. Once she left, he fell back onto the bed, disappointed that she hadn't asked him to go with her.

……………………………

She slipped quietly into the house and could instantly smell eggs cooking. She went into the kitchen and hugged her father. He kissed her on the forehead.

"What are you doing here so early, mija?"

She went to the refrigerator and poured two glasses of orange juice, one for him and another for her. "I wanted to check on Hilda."

He raised his eyebrows. "Good luck, mija. They got in pretty late last night. I don't think she's going to stir until at least 11:00."

She looked up as if she could see through the ceiling. "Do you think he's up there, too?"

He put his hands up in defense. "I don't want to know. Seeing Santos in her robe was enough to kill my heart."

She smiled softly, squeezed his hand, and headed upstairs. She went into her sister's bedroom and saw her sprawled out in bed. When she saw the window open, her face dropped and she couldn't help but say, "Oh, Hilda, you made him climb out the window?"

Hilda, who had been in a deep sleep, jumped and fell out of bed. Rubbing her head, she looked up to see her sister. "Betty! Are you trying to kill me?"

Betty rolled her eyes. "Please. If I wanted to perform fratricide, I would have done it _years _ago."

Hilda just stared at her. "If you are going to say big words, wait until I've had some coffee. And speak softly."

Betty smirked. "Rough night?"

She stood up. "You could say that."

Betty went over to the window and shut it. "Did you really have to make him go out the window?"

Hilda waved her arms in frustration. "Ay, Betty, no. It was hot, okay? I opened a window. I went to bed by myself."

She squinted. "But in the club, it seemed like…"

Hilda grabbed some clothes to take to the bathroom. She thought her sister seemed jealous, even though she would never admit it. Even if she wasn't jealous, she was dying to know what happened. Hilda knew that Betty loved Henry and that he loved her. It would do no good to tell her that Gio had feelings for her. "It just didn't work out," she said.

She followed Hilda into the hallway and asked, "Are you okay? I thought you really liked each other."

Hilda's back was turned to her, so Betty didn't see her close her eyes and sigh. When she turned to look at her, she said, "Yeah, I'm okay. Mira, it just wasn't right. He said that he wanted to be friends."

Betty frowned. After a few moments thought, she said perkily, "Well, it's his loss." Hilda thanked her and hugged her. Betty went back downstairs to talk to Papi. But before she left her, she said, "He doesn't know a great thing when he sees it."

Hilda watched her leave and said under her breath, "Yes, he does."

She went into the bathroom and closed the door. Hilda didn't like lying to her sister—well, not about this anyway. But if she had told her that _she _was the one to break it off instead of Gio, Betty would have pushed her to tell her why. She knew it was better for everyone if Betty thought that Gio had ended the date. Gio would eventually be forgotten and Betty could go back to obsessing over Henry.

And Hilda could go back to trying to find the right person for her.

…………………………

Betty and Henry sat down at their favorite restaurant and ordered their drinks.

"So how did the date go?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Not well. But Hilda seems to be taking the rejection as well as expected."

Readjusting his glasses, he asked, "Gio rejected her?"

She nodded. "That's what she said. I was surprised."

Henry was less surprised. "It just wasn't meant to be," he said. Then he smiled and took her hand, implying that they were.

She was too deep in her own thoughts to notice and simply smiled back mindlessly. "I don't understand why he wouldn't want to be with her."

_Maybe he likes someone else_, Henry thought. But instead, he said, "Hilda deserves someone that wants to be with her. Just like you do."

This time, Betty did hear him and gave him a big smile. "I wonder who that could be," she said teasingly as she squeezed his hand.

…………………………….

Monday, Daniel walked by her desk and told her good morning. She followed him into his office and gave him the messages that had already piled up and reminded him of his upcoming meetings.

"Can I leave a little early today?" Betty asked. "I need to pick up Justin after school."

Daniel had been focusing on prints on his desk but looked up at the mention of Justin. Quietly, he asked, "How are they—Justin and Hilda?"

She was touched that he asked. Looking down at her agenda, she said, "Every day gets better. Hilda's dating again."

He raised his eyebrows. "Is it serious?"

Shaking her head, she said, "No. It was just one date with Gio. It didn't end well."

He stood up and came around the desk, resting on the edge of it. "The sandwich guy? Did he ask her out?"

Her forehead and nose wrinkled. "No, _she_ asked him. Why?"

He leaned back and took a deep breath, his eyes trying to avoid hers. "C'mon, Betty."

"What, Daniel? Why would Gio not go out with Hilda?"

He stood up and folded his arms in front of him. "I don't want to have this conversation. We talk about our relationships too much."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "What are you talking about?"

He walked over to her, letting out an exasperated breath. "Gio. I'm talking about Gio. And you."

She paused, as if frozen in time. She stammered, "There…there is no Gio and me."

He put his hands on either side of her shoulders. "Betty, he might have been a fake boyfriend, but the way I saw him look at you was anything but fake. He can't go out with your sister because he wants to be with you."

She was almost shuddering from the inability to say something. "Can I leave early to pick up Justin?" she asked stubbornly, defensively.

He backed away and said softly, "Yeah."

………………………

The rest of the day dragged on. It felt like she was being tortured by needles. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't pangs of guilt and worry and confusion.

At noon, she grabbed her purse and tried to rush out of the building before she ran into Christina and Henry. But she was too slow and ran physically right into Henry. He grabbed onto her waist to keep their balance and they both laughed as they stood straight again.

Henry smiled big, adjusted his glasses and said, "I was looking for you. Do you want to get some lunch?"

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She didn't want to lie to him. The truth was harmless. But she instinctually knew that he wouldn't like where she was headed. So she said, "I'd love to, Henry, but Daniel has me working through lunch today so I can pick Justin up from school today."

He nodded, saying, "Okay. I'll see you at home?"

She smiled at him in agreement and hurried towards the elevator.

…………………………

She glared at the smiling pickle on the glass door before she opened it and went inside the deli.

Gio, busy with customers, looked up and smiled. "There she is," he started and when he saw the alarmed look on her face, his smile warmed and he finished, "the writer!"

She still blushed as people turned to look at her, but she was relieved.

He finished the current sandwich he had been preparing and from over the counter, asked, "Hey, do you want something to eat? I'll even put four sun-dried tomatoes on it for ya."

She gripped her purse tighter and laughed nervously. "Can I talk to you?"

He paused, looking at her and was concerned. He leaned over to the guy beside him, who looked quite a bit older and was balding. "Could you take over for me?"

The guy didn't look up. He only nodded and mumbled, "Claro, vaya con la chava."

Gio took off his apron and waved her to go around the counter. He opened the door for her so that she could pass through and then took her to a break room. "We can talk in here."

They sat in a few moments of uncomfortable silence while Gio waited for her to say something. It reminded her of that scene in _Pride and Prejudice _right before Mr. Darcy proposed but it made her stomach flip-flop to compare Gio to Mr. Darcy and she pushed the thought away.

"Uh, are you okay? Are you sure you don't want a sandwich?" he asked.

That made her stir and she began to ramble. "Is that your comfort item? Food? Do you relate everything back to food?"

He cocked an eyebrow and leaned over to look into her purse. A bag of chips and a wrapped muffin were peeking out. "_I _use food for comfort?"

She gave him a look, the one she often did. "Okay, so we have something in common. Yay for us," she said sarcastically.

His face got serious. "What's going on?"

She looked into his face and for the first time since she had met him saw all concern and no joking. She glanced away. "What did you do to my sister?"

He blinked. He blinked again. Then he shifted his head and searched for the right words. "What are you talkin' about?" he asked in that deep, husky voice. The Suarez sisters were killing him.

She shrugged as her voice got high pitched. "She's been quiet all weekend and she wouldn't really tell me what happened. She just seems worried or bothered. And I can only guess that it's because you told her that you don't want to see her again."

His jaw dropped and he was shocked at first. But it made sense that Hilda would try to protect Betty and Henry from him if she thought he liked Betty. He knew that if he told Betty that it had actually been Hilda, she would inevitably make him confess what Hilda thought, or Hilda would have to tell her. So to protect himself and everyone else involved, he lied as well. "It just didn't work, Betty. I would like for her to be a friend."

Betty dared not ask him what she really wanted to know. She stuck her bottom lip out and said, "It's just that it was her first date since Justin's dad died. I was hoping that it would work out."

He didn't want to admit that his heart sunk at the thought that Betty wanted him with her sister. "Love isn't perfect, Betty. Searching for it isn't either."

Her eyes flew to his and they stared at each other for a few moments before she broke the stare.

Quietly, he asked, "Is she okay?"

She picked up her purse. "She's Hilda. She eventually gets through everything."

Watching her stand, he stood as well and followed her to the door. Before she opened it, he reached out and grabbed her arm. They both stopped and she turned slowly to look back at him.

A strand of hair brushed across his face as he said, "Are _you _okay?"

She smirked and her voice lilted again. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

He put his hands out in front of him. "I don't know. You came all the way down here during lunch on a Monday to ask me what I told your sister."

"I just worry about her."

He opened the door for her. "Who worries about you?"

She set her jaw firmly, but not angrily when she said, "My boyfriend."

He watched her leave the deli, then he closed the door again and sat back down at the break table. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

He felt like he had been kicked in the gut.

TBC


	2. Sunday Sundaes

I meant to go to bed an hour or so ago, but I couldn't stop myself. I might not update again until the next episode because I would like to follow the storyline, but it just depends. Please leave me a message to tell me what you think. Vivan Gio and Betty!

Chapter 2

About an hour after leaving Gio's deli, Betty went to the closet to find Christina. She was knee deep in silks and leopard prints.

"Hi, Christina," Betty said more cheerfully than she felt.

"Hey, Betty," she said, going cross-eyed from cutting fabric. "Where were you at lunch?"

Her mouth opened but words didn't come out at first. "I went to Gio's."

Christina's face wrinkled. "Why?"

Betty sat down at a stool next to her friend. "His and Hilda's date didn't go well and I wanted to know why."

"Did he tell you?"

Betty frowned thoughtfully. "He said it just didn't work out."

"_That's_ a detailed answer," Christina said, her hair flopping in front of her eyes as she moved around the table.

"Daniel said it was because he liked me," she said as her voice became high-pitched.

Christina's eyes went wide. "Daniel likes you?"

She stared at her. "What?" She shook her head. "No, he meant that Gio likes me."

Christina made a face. "Oh, I could have told you that."

"What!"

Christina waved her hand dismissively. "Please, the man wants to put you between two slices of bread and eat you for breakfast, lunch, _and _dinner."

Betty leaned over the table, putting her hands on the tabletop. "Christina! Now is not the time to be sexually inappropriate."

"Sorry. But it's true. I went to his deli only twice with you and both times he stared at you like he wanted to toss you on the table and take you right there."

Betty blushed. "Christina, I need some real help here."

Christina didn't look up as she pinned the hem of the dress. "Do you like him?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Gio? No, of course not."

Finally, Christina looked up at her. "Then the best thing is to stay away from him."

Betty looked away as she thought. "You're probably right."

………………………………

It had been a week since Betty had gone into Gio's deli to ask him about Hilda. She hadn't gone to see him since. Gio figured that the Suarez family was done with him. Betty didn't need him. She had Henry. And she thought that he had rejected Hilda.

So now all that was left was for Gio to try to forget the Suarez family. He knew it wasn't going to be easy. Not only did he like Betty, but he liked her family. They were familiar. They were the type of family he had grown up with, the family he saw almost every day. Like his family, the Suarezes were close, loyal, loving, and protective.

He liked Mr. Suarez. He was funny without trying to be. He seemed to be hardworking and a loving father to his daughters and grandsons. Plus, he made food that smelled delicious. He hated that he had never had the opportunity to try any of it.

Despite his date with Hilda, he liked her, too. She was fun and honest. She was the kind of sibling to Betty that he hoped he was to Nella. And she seemed to have raised a great son.

And then there was Betty. After that day in the break room, he could no longer ignore how he felt about Betty Suarez. She was sassy, passionate, headstrong, and romantic. Well, he wasn't so sure about the romantic part. She thought that eating ice cream off a lover's stomach was gross. He was surprised by how much he ached to change her mind, how many times a day he fantasized about teaching her to let go of her inhibitions. He assumed that she had not had too many partners, only being twenty-three and still squeamish about such things. Henry must be her first or very close to it. Jealously, he didn't want to think there had been more partners than that. And even more jealously and proudly, he wanted to be the lover that drove her crazy. He wanted to be the one to teach her, to learn with her, learn what she liked and how they fit together.

He needed to stop thinking like this. He had often times in the past week found himself stop, mid-sandwich making, and think about her. He was starting to get complaints from his customers.

And now was a bad time to get excited considering he was on his way to church. As always, he was to meet his parents, uncle, and sister there. He sat next to his mother through a sermon on coveting his neighbor's partner.

He wondered if God was messing with him.

A few hours later, he walked into his parents' living room. They had arrived to the house only fifteen minutes before him, but he could already hear his mother, a short, chubby Puerto Rican woman, fussing in the kitchen as she prepared lunch. His father was a short, chubby Italian man who had started balding by the time he was thirty and had the biggest smile Gio had ever seen from anyone.

"Hey, Pop," Gio said.

His father greeted him in Italian and told him to sit down, handing him an extra beer. Gio's uncle, his mother's brother, was sitting in the chair across from them. He was the balding man that worked in his deli with him.

They sat and watched football, only speaking up to talk about the game and the players or to cheer or yell at the television. During a commercial, his father took a swig of his beer and without taking his eyes from the tv, said to Gio, "So, your Uncle Andre here tells me that a girl came to see you."

He tried to look unaffected. "Yeah. And?"

Andre smiled. "You were pretty messed up when she left, sobrino."

Gio smirked. "Nah."

Nella came out from behind the doorway, where she had been eavesdropping. "Is she who you went on a date with?"

He laughed. "How did you know I went on a date, nosy?"

She looked cocky. "Mom tells me everything."

He raised his eyebrows. "And how did Mom know?"

His mother peeked her head out of the kitchen, her glasses resting on the tip of her nose. "My brother Andre tells me everything."

He gave a sideways look to Andre. "I need to stop telling you _anything_."

Andre shrugged. "So was it the same girl, you dog?"

Gio's smile faded. "No, it was her sister."

His father whistled. "Wow, you are a dog." He hit him in the arm and laughed heartily. "I'm proud of you, mijo."

Nella rolled her eyes. "Gross." She came into the room and folded her arms. "So who was it?"

"It's no big deal. She's just a friend."

Andre got up to get another beer. "Like hell that girl is. I saw her face when she left and I saw yours when you finally came out. You've got that loving feeling."

"So who is it?" Nella asked.

Gio sighed. "You met her. Betty."

Nella's jaw dropped. "Betty? Braces girl?"

Gio threw the couch pillow at her. "Be nice."

Andre shrugged as he came back into the room. "She is kind of fea, chavo."

He pointed a finger at his uncle. "Betty's not ugly, Uncle. She's a nice girl."

His dad chuckled. "You've got it bad, Giovanni."

Gio drank from his beer again and said under his breath, "Yeah."

Nella had already gotten bored and went into the kitchen with her mother. Once she was gone, his father asked, "So, why haven't you done something about it?"

He stared at the television. "She's got a boyfriend."

"That doesn't mean anything."

Gio put his hand on his knee. "It does when she sees him like he rides a white horse and saves orphans from wells."

His father clicked the roof of his mouth with his tongue. "That's a tough one, Son."

He repeated again softly, "Yeah."

…………………………………

It had been a week since Betty had gone into Gio's deli to ask him about Hilda. She had convinced herself that whatever had happened that day was done. All of her friends must be wrong. He hadn't stopped by to see her and he never said anything to her.

Besides, she didn't want him to come see her. She was happy with Henry. Her relationship with Henry was the first time she loved someone and that person loved her back. It was what her mother had wanted for her and she was glad to have found it.

She was sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream. "Henry, hurry up. Your ice cream's melting," she shouted to him.

"I'm coming," he said as he came out of the bedroom putting a sweater on. "It's cold in here."

Glibly, she said, "We're very smart for eating ice cream then."

"It's what we do. We _have _to eat ice cream." He kissed her on the lips.

She tilted her head. "We usually do this on Saturday instead of Sunday, too, but we changed that," she said playfully.

His bottom lip stuck out, slightly pouting. "Your dad invited us to dinner. We just had to postpone."

She smiled. "I know, Henry. I'm giving you a hard time."

He smiled back. "Watch it. I might just take your ice cream away."

Her chin jutted out. "You can take my life, but you can never take my ice cream."

He went over to the table with the dvds on it. "Is that a hint that you rented _Braveheart_?"

She paused. "No," she chuckled. "I, uh, kind of wanted to watch _Pride and Prejudice_."

He put in the disc, grabbed his ice cream bowl, and sat down next to her. "Sounds good, although the miniseries is much better."

She licked ice cream from her spoon. "But who has time to eat ice cream for six hours?"

Henry thought she was still joking. He looked down at her excitedly. "We do."

When he turned back to look at the tv screen, her smile drooped. "Yeah, I guess we do."

TBC


	3. En Verdad

Hi, thanks so much for reading this story and reviewing. Viva a Betty y Gio! This chapter starts directly after "Zero Worship," which was the newest episode aired. I will not update again until the 17th, after "Odor in the Court." Sorry, but I want to follow the storyline until all of the current episodes have aired. Darn writers' strike!

Chapter 3

Betty found Henry after the fashion show. She let go of Daniel's arm and told him goodnight. Running up to him, she reached up on her toes and put her arms around his neck.

He laughed happily and rubbed his hands on the small of her back. "You did a great job, tonight, Betty."

She looked up at him and smiled. "_We _did a great job. I couldn't have done it without my fantastic boyfriend."

He blushed and readjusted his glasses. "I am pretty fantastic, aren't I?" he said jokingly.

She turned and took his hand so that they could start walking. "Yep, and I found you."

His voice was slow and deep. "You were so beautiful tonight."

She smiled. "You're beautiful, too."

He turned to face her again and put his hands on her waist. "Ready to go home?" he asked, expectations in his voice.

She looked up at him coyly. "Do I get to call you Black Dragon?"

……………………………

"Where's Justin?' Ignacio asked as he took the coffee pot off of the stove.

Hilda sighed and went to the refrigerator. She took out a plate of empanadas. "He's on the phone telling everyone he can think of that he was at Fashion Week."

Her father chuckled. "Well, we won't see him for two days."

She grinned and took the extra cup of coffee. She looked at the pictures Justin had sent to her cell phone of the fashion show. "Betty looked great."

He nodded and took a drink from his cup. "Betty always looks great. And so do you."

She looked down at the table, her ponytail brushing across her back. "Thanks, Papi. But she doesn't let herself believe it most of the time."

Taking a bite out of an empanada, he said, 'That's why we have to believe it for her." They sat eating and drinking in silence for a few minutes until he said, "I don't tell you enough, mija. I'm so proud of you for what you've done this past year. With Santos and Justin. And the salon. You've really stepped up, amor."

She choked back tears and put her hand on his. "It's been so hard."

"Life wouldn't be living if it wasn't hard, mija."

She smiled and reached over, wrapping her arms around his neck in a silent thank you.

He kissed her on the forehead and then asked, "Did Betty go home with Henry?"

She played with her coffee cup, spinning it slowly on the table. "Yeah, she called a little while ago to say that she'd see us tomorrow."

He shook his head. "I wish she'd move back home. I miss her around here."

She let out a breath. "Papi, she's twenty-three. She's gotta move out sometime."

His brow furrowed. "But now? With Henry?"

She tilted her head. "Dime en verdad. Do you think it's going to work out with Henry?"

He looked at her seriously. "Do you?" When she didn't say anything, he said, "What I do know, mija, is that we'll be here when she needs us."

She took a sip of her coffee. _We won't be the only ones here waiting for her_, she thought as Gio's face came into her mind.

………………………

Gio had been sitting in his favorite chair, flipping through the television channels. He had seen Daniel Meade standing on a runway on the Fashion Channel. Setting down the remote, he listened as Daniel said that they were about to introduce healthy models.

Gio smiled and leaned over, putting his forearms on his knees. He instinctively knew that Betty had to have had something to do with it. He watched as the models went by and the crowd cheered. Then the last model came out. His smile faded as he saw that it was Betty.

She looked fantastic. And happy. And beautiful. Sexy.

He couldn't get away from her. Even when he thought she was gone, she found a way to haunt him. Before Betty Suarez, he had had a plan. Goals. And after her, because of her, he had seen those plans realized. But now in just a few short months, those plans didn't really seem to mean anything without her.

As he watched her on that stage, he fantasized that he was standing on the runway with her, that they were the only two in the room. The music pounded around them as he softly pushed a black strand of hair away from her face. Her smile was big as she looked at him. There was a hint of a smile on his lips as he leaned into her. As he was about to kiss her, the music stopped and he realized that she was no longer standing there. Alexis Meade was in front of the cameras being interviewed.

He remembered that he was in his one-bedroom apartment sitting in his favorite leather chair. He tried to pretend that he didn't care what or where Betty was doing and going but he couldn't help but wonder. He wanted to be the one to tell her how great she looked, how great she _was_. He wanted to be the one to celebrate with her. He wanted to be the one that she wanted to tell everything to. 

He fell asleep in the chair, thinking of Betty.

Waking up early the next morning, he got up and as he started walking towards the bathroom, he took off his shirt. He stopped at a table near the hallway and turned on the cd player as loud as he could without causing his neighbors to complain. Upbeat jazz spilled from the speakers. His head bobbed to the beat as he unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them down.

He was determined to be focused today. He was going to be happy and not pining after someone else. Stepping into the shower, he let the warm water run down his body. After his shower, he went into his bedroom and put on a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He put a brush through his hair and put on his watch.

When he came out of his bedroom, he saw Antonella coming through the front door. She had used the spare key her mother had made for her.

"Hey, Nella," he said cheerily. "What are you doing here?"

She made a face. "I was supposed to come over, remember?" She set down her backpack by the couch. "I was going to help you at the deli and then I was going to spend the night." She looked at him under her brow, saying, "I expect you to help me with my geography project."

He laughed. "Okay, let me grab my wallet and we'll head to the deli."

When they were ready to walk out the door, she followed behind him and said, "So, you still macking on Braces girl?"

He rolled his eyes and tapped her nose with his index finger. "Can you be any more ten?"

She pursed her lips as if she were actually thinking about the question. "Maybe. Do you want me to try?"

He smiled. "What do you want to know? I'll let you ask one question and that's it."

She was quiet for a few moments as she did think about this question. "Why do you like her?"

Walking down the hallway to the stairwell, he twirled the keys in his hands. "I'm not sure, really. She makes me smile." He put his arm around his sister. "Like you do."

She looked up at him excitedly, wanting to know more. "Are you going to ask her out?"

He bumped her with his shoulder playfully. "You already got your one question, hermanita."

They walked outside and she hopped into his van. "Can I ask you something else?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "What?"

"Are you going to make me a sandwich for lunch? With a lot of cheese?"

He smiled. "Sure."

TBC


	4. Questions

Well, the episode finally came! This chapter happens directly after the episode "Odor in the Court" and I sadly won't update again until (sniff) the last episode "A Thousand Words by Friday." After that, if the writers' strike remains unresolved, I will finish this story the way I would finish the season and probably beyond that. Anyway, here it is. Hope you enjoy. And as always, please read and tell me what you think!

Chapter 4

She had felt so good when he hugged her. He had known that she would.

Gio got in his van from the Mode parking garage and headed for his deli. The last two days had damn neared killed him. He hadn't seen Betty in nearly three weeks and then she had called in an order for two sandwiches. He had made a jealous ass out of himself for implying that Henry would cheat. He was embarrassed that he had acted that way.

But he also didn't understand why Betty didn't see it. She was a smart woman and she was wasting the next four months on a guy that was going to leave her. It was her decision, though, and that was why he had apologized. He didn't want her to hate him after Henry left.

And she had attacked him for it, telling him to leave and never come back. He had never been that humiliated in public. He had certainly never been that hurt. He didn't know a woman could cause him that much pain. He should have known that something was wrong with Betty. She would never intentionally hurt someone that badly and he was hoping that he was one of those people that she would want to hurt the least.

But, deep down, he knew he wasn't. He was just a friend. Hell, he wasn't much more than an acquaintance. He thought about the letter she had written. She had said that she didn't mean any of it, that it was from the drug. But he was afraid that when she looked at him, all she saw was just an arrogant, annoying jerk. She obviously hadn't enjoyed the hug as he had. In reality, she had looked extremely uncomfortable. He, on the other hand, had not wanted to let her go.

_You never feel closer to a woman than when you're holding her_. He had believed it completely when he had told Betty that, but when he had hugged Betty, he had never felt farther away from a woman in his life. He could have held her for hours and she just wanted to let go. She wanted to be hugging Henry.

As he neared his deli, he thought about how he had seen her lying on the floor that morning. He had been too scared for her to be angry _at _her. When he saw that she was fairly okay while talking to the cop, he had looked around his trashed deli with a sigh. It would be a pain to already have to get a new window. But not at one time during any of this did he feel anger. He was actually relieved to know that she was there, that maybe she hadn't actually meant that she never wanted to see him again. He had comforted her as much as possible without showing her that she had scared the hell out of him.

When he had seen her talking to Claire Meade, he felt proud. He had only known her for a few months and loved seeing her confidant, happy. She was the hero, the shining star of the day and that had made him feel almost as good as hugging her.

He parked his van and got out. He walked over to the deli entrance and went in. His cousin Tony was measuring the window. "Hey, Tony," Gio said. "How's the window coming?"

Tony grabbed a board. "I'm bracing it up now and putting in plastic. The actual window pane should be in by tomorrow."

Gio slapped him on the shoulder. "That's great, Ton. Thanks a lot."

Tony put a nail in between his teeth and hammered another into the wall. "You're mom told my mom that a chick did this to you."

Gio paused and then said, "Yeah."

Tony took the nail from his mouth and hammered it into the board. "What did you do to this girl, G? Sleep with her sister?"

Gio laughed nervously. "No, I didn't do that."

He shook his head. "Did you break this girl's heart?"

_She's breaking mine. _"Nah, she's just a friend," he said. "She'd been drugged."

Tony cocked an eyebrow. "You're telling me this girl busts out your window and you don't even get to sleep with her?"

Gio put his hand up. "Hey, man. That's not cool."

Tony smiled. "So what Aunt Paz told Mamita _is_ true. You have got it bad, man."

Gio turned, looking away, and ran his hand through his hair. "I think I'm losing my mind," he said on a sigh.

His cousin raised his hand to show him his wedding ring. "I've been married for nine years, Giovanni. Trust me; I know about insanity."

Gio chuckled. "I'm gonna get to work, man. But I'll get you a Coke or something."

His cousin slapped his hand happily. "Thanks, dude. And if I can get you anything…like I don't know…your balls back, let me know."

Gio gave a purposefully fake laugh. "Oh, funny. You missed your calling as a stand-up comedian. You should really give that a try."

Tony smiled. "And you should give love a try, cousin."

Gio walked to the fountain machine. His cousin didn't know how much he wanted to.

……………………………………

Betty was waiting at the airport. She couldn't wait to see Henry. He had been gone for two days and she had only talked to him twice: once when she had called him at the doctor's office and the second when he had called her that night to ask how she was feeling.

She wondered why he hadn't called more often. Gio's words echoed in her ears and she tried to push those thoughts away. _What happens in Tucson stays in Tucson…He can't get her pregnant again_. Henry would never cheat on her. She knew that. But he was leaving soon. How soon would it be that she'd never hear from him again?

She wrapped her purse straps around her hands as she watched passengers exit the plane and walk past her. Henry was the last person off of the plane. Their smiles were big as Betty ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"What, no running jump this time?" Henry teased, looking down at her.

She blushed and took his hand. "I was poisoned. But it was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

He readjusted his glasses. "Until you had to go see the doctor. What happened exactly?"

They went to the baggage claim and waited for his suitcase. "I blacked out in Gio's deli and he took me to see the doctor."

His forehead wrinkled. "What were you doing in his deli?"

She stammered, "I was irrational, Henry. I had gotten mad at him and I…threw a trashcan through his window."

Picking up his found suitcase, he stretched out the handle and began rolling it towards the exit to the car. "Why were you mad at him? How had you even seen him?"

She squirmed, feeling like he was interrogating her. "I ordered our sandwiches from him. Remember? It was for _your_ care package."

He nodded. "That reminds me. I don't really like Gio's sandwiches."

They walked into the parking lot and got into the car. She turned to him. "What are you talking about? They're delicious."

He shrugged. "They're too spicy for me or something. I'd rather get sandwiches somewhere else."

"Oh, okay."

Putting the car in gear, he headed for his apartment. "So how much do you owe him for the window?"

She shook her head. "He told me not to worry about it."

"What!" he exclaimed, looking over at her quickly before looking back at the road.

Talking with her hands, she said, "Yeah, he just told me to buy a few extra sandwiches, which might be a little harder now if you don't want to get them."

"I don't understand. Why wouldn't he want to be repaid for it?"

She threw her hands up. "I don't know, Henry. Maybe he's just a nice guy. Maybe he knows that I wasn't in my right mind when I did it."

"Did anything else happen?"

The hug immediately came to mind. "Besides freeing Claire Meade, no. Nothing else happened."

He smiled and took her hand. "And you're okay, now?"

She smiled back. "Yes, Henry. Everything's fine now. The perfume went through my system in a couple of hours and I've been okay for a day and a half."

He squeezed her hand. "I'm glad. I was so worried about you, Betty."

"What happened in Tucson? How is the baby?"

He parked the car and stepped out. "Yes, the baby is good and healthy. It still looks like a blob, but it's the cutest blob I have ever seen."

She laughed softly. "I waited for you to call…"

"I know, Betty. I'm sorry. It's just that I had to see my parents and Charlie and the baby. And I had terrible jetlag."

Taking out her keys, she opened the apartment door. "I'm just glad you're back."

He set down his suitcase, saying, "I am, too." He kissed her softly on the lips and then hugged her. She rested her forehead on his chest, clinging to him tightly.

Several hours later, Henry was in bed, lightly snoring. The light from a streetlamp was shining on his face, so she could see his mouth hanging open. She smiled at the cute facial expression. Sitting up, she hung her legs over the side of the bed and put her head in her hands. She had been lying in bed for more than an hour, unable to sleep. Too many thoughts invaded her mind.

Why hadn't Henry called? She believed him when he had told her that he had been busy, but pangs of worry upset her stomach. She didn't understand why he couldn't have called her to let her know that his plane had landed safely. She knew it was selfish, but she wanted to be his first thought. It also made her kind of angry that he asked her all of those questions about Gio but told her little about what happened in Tuscon.

Her thoughts drifted to Gio. She wasn't sure why she felt the need not to tell Henry about Gio hugging her. There was no reason to tell him, but what bothered her was that she wanted to make sure that he didn't find out. Maybe it was because Daniel, Christina, and now Amanda had all told her that Gio had feelings for her. It sounded ridiculous. Why would Gio want her? She never saw him unless she called him first and when she did see him, he always got under her skin. He didn't seem to show any interest in her when she had went to his deli to ask about Hilda.

But through the haze of her memories of "perfume" day, she remembered sitting close to him. She remembered his deep voice telling her how good she smelled, how his eyes stared into hers, his smile warm as he looked at her. She remembered the face he made when he hugged her. He looked nervous and sweet. She wasn't sure how she felt about him possibly liking her. He was handsome and she hated to admit it, but he was funny and she hated to admit it even more, but he was hot.

None of that mattered, though. She was with Henry. She _wanted _to be with Henry. Getting out of bed, she went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. With the cup in her hand, she walked back to the bedroom and looked out of the window at the cars driving by. She wondered where the cars were going and wished the she knew were she was going as well. She felt lost. She had no idea if she had a future with Henry and she didn't know how she was going to handle it when he left. She was putting her heart in danger. Even though she tried to put it out of her mind, it crept in. Every quiet moment, every time she was alone, she could hear that voice of doubt. _Henry's leaving. He's leaving _you. _He's not coming back_.

She set the cup on her nightstand and crawled back into bed. Curling up next to Henry, he put his arm around her. As her eyes closed and she drifted to sleep, the last voice she heard was uncontrollably Gio's.

_Because _love_ doesn't come around often. And I want to make every second count._

………………………………………

Daniel hummed as he buttoned his shirt. He was preparing for his date, but he kept thinking about the events of the last few days. His mother had finally been cleared. He couldn't express how thankful he was that he had his mother back, that he almost had his entire family again.

Betty was the reason for it. For the past two years, she had taken care of him and his family better than anyone ever had. He could never repay her for everything she had done for him. He was relieved that his mother's perfume did not seriously hurt her. He did not know what he would do without her and he couldn't stand the thought of Betty sick or in trouble. She was the best friend he had ever had. He wanted so badly for her to be happy. If he could help her get there, he would.

After seeing Gio at Claire's party, he knew for sure that Henry wasn't the only one in love with Betty. He had also seen her awkwardness around him and knew that she wasn't ready to see how Gio felt. But Daniel had definitely seen it and he liked the idea of it. He hadn't seen much of Gio, but from what he could tell, Gio would try to protect her. From what Betty had told him, Gio was the reason why she had started writing again. Henry only offered heartbreak.

He heard a knock on the door and knew that his date was there. As Daniel put his watch on, he decided that he would do whatever it took for Betty to notice Gio.

TBC


	5. Wiches

This chapter is in between the latest chapter and "A Thousand Words by Friday." Enjoy and holla back. ;)

PS. I wanted to tell everyone thank you for reading this. This is the first time I've ever written each chapter along with the episodes, so thanks for trying the experiment with me! It has been much appreciated.

Chapter 5

At lunch, Betty and Christina went to Gio's deli about four days after the "perfume" incident. The bell dinged as they walked through the door. Gio looked up at the sound and saw her, his breath catching in his lungs.

Trying to hide his relieved shock of her being there, he smiled and shouted out, "There she is, the delinquent!"

She stuck her hip out, cocked her head, and made a face. "Oh, that never gets old," she said sarcastically. Walking up to the counter, she said, "I thought I'd order those extra 'wiches now."

He smirked. "You remembered."

She shook her head, confused. "What?"

"_Wiches,_" he said with a smile.

She smiled back. "Well, it _is_ an industry term."

"So what do you girls want?" he asked as he looked down and prepared two sets of bread.

Christina clapped her hands together. "Ooh, I like being called a girl. Makes me want to wear a Catholic school uniform again and go find Stewart." They looked at her with silent, blank stares. Deflating, she said, "Hormones, sorry. I'll have whatever Betty's having."

Betty ordered for them, took the sandwiches, and sat down with Christina at a table.

Gio looked over at Andre and said, "Voy a tener almuerzo. Okay?"

Andre looked at his nephew and then at Betty. Chuckling, he said, "Sure, go have _lunch_."

Gio put his hands up. "Calmate, calmate." He walked over to Betty and Christina's table. "Hey, I need to take a lunch break. Is it okay if I have it with you?"

Christina raised her eyebrows and looked at Betty. Betty tried to swallow the large bite of sandwich in her mouth. "Mrmb, yeah, okay," she mumbled.

He smiled, pulled over a chair, and sat down. He put the sandwich he had prepared for himself on a napkin and took a drink of the Coke he had got from the fountain. "You like your sandwiches?"

Betty nodded. "They're always good. You know that."

He grinned. "Of course I do, but it's nice to hear now and then."

She washed down a bite of food with her drink. "You got your window fixed quickly."

He looked over at it, the smiling pickle back in its rightful spot. "My cousin took care of it."

"He did a good job," Christina said politely.

Gio nodded in thanks and they sat quietly for a few moments.

Betty didn't want to look up but she finally looked over at him. "Gio, I'm so sorry about the window. Are you sure you don't want me to pay for it?"

"You bought your extra sandwiches. We're even," he said and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. When he saw that it made her uncomfortable and it made him nervous, he quickly took his hand away from her.

She brushed a strand of hair from her face. She would have been too afraid to say this to Gio alone; that was why she had brought Christina. "I never thanked you for taking care of me and driving me to the doctor."

He shrugged. "I wasn't going to leave you here sick."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, but you could have dropped me off at the doctor's and left me. It helped that you were there."

His throat swelled with emotion and he searched her eyes for the one look he wanted to see. But all that shone in her eyes was gratitude. For now, it was painful, but it was enough. "Well, if Egg...Henry had been here, I'm sure he would have swept you up and ran to the doctor immediately. But you just got me."

She rolled her eyes. She couldn't win with him and his glibness. "For what it's worth, I was lucky that it was you."

They looked away from each other awkwardly. Christina, sensing the tension, said, "Well, we better get back or the models are going to be in the photo shoot naked. Not that they aren't barely naked anyway."

Standing up, they started to throw away their trash, but Gio brushed their hands away. "I'll take care of it. Just go."

Betty smiled down at him. "Thanks." She paused for emphasis and said, "For everything."

He gave a swift nod of the head and waved. "Take care."

Christina walked out the door and Betty followed. She gave a quick look back at him before leaving.

He took a deep breath and watched them leave. It killed him every time he saw her, but he couldn't contain his smile either.

…………………………………….

When Betty got back to Mode, she walked by an abnormally cocky Amanda, even for her.

"So, where were you, cheese fingers?" she asked, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

Betty turned defensively, eyeing her. "Getting sandwiches with Christina."

Now both eyebrows rose. "Gio's sandwiches?"

She squinted and said defiantly, "Yes, why?"

With a catty smile, Amanda asked, "Is a sandwich _all _you got?"

"Ew."

She tilted her head. "I don't know, Betty. He's not rich enough for me and he doesn't fulfill the height requirement to ride this ride. But isn't he like a taco in a bag for _your_ people?"

"I don't even know what that means."

Amanda made a blank face. "Neither do I." She shook her head. "But he wants it. And you're thinking about wanting it."

Strongly, she said, "No, I don't." She turned away from her to head for her desk, saying, "All I want is—"

She found Henry waiting at her desk. "—Henry?"

They greeted each other with a hug. He said, "I needed to ask you about Daniel's financial account last month."

She blinked. "Okay, I'll find his record. It's in a spreadsheet on my computer."

He stood close over her shoulder to look at her computer. Chuckling, he said, "You smell like onions. I like it oddly enough."

She sifted her weight in the chair. "I, uh, Christina and I went to Gio's for lunch."

His brows furrowed. "I thought we weren't going there anymore."

Anger shot through her stomach and the back of her neck. "No, _you _said you didn't want to eat there anymore, Henry. Christina and I like it." She looked up at him. "And I told you I owed him extra sandwiches."

"I don't think he was being serious about the sandwiches."

She sighed. "It was the least I could do, Henry. I sent a trashcan flying through his window."

He resisted the urge to readjust his glasses. "You're right, Betty. I'm sorry to sound so pushy."

She clicked _print _on the spreadsheet. "Why do you care so much about it anyway?"

He looked down at her, his bottom lip sticking out. "I just don't like him."

_He's not that fond of you either_, she thought but didn't dare say. She took his hands in hers and smiled. "Well, I like _you_ and that's the only thing that matters."

He looked at her sweetly, bent down, and kissed her softly on the lips. He took the spreadsheet from her printer. "Thanks."

Once he left, she shifted through a desk drawer to find a new packet of sticky-notes. Underneath a box of paperclips, she found a crumpled piece of paper she had forgotten she had.

_Tried it your way—not terrible._

_Gio._

She put her chin on her fist and let out a breath. Sometimes she regretted the day she had ever noticed boys.

TBC


	6. Plans

This follows "A Thousand Words by Friday." Since there doesn't seem to be any more episodes coming, the chapters to come will be my vision. So, hope you enjoy…

Chapter 6

Betty was staring at the picture of Henry at her desk. She now had a little more than three months left with him and she often found herself missing him when he was not there. Granted he was only in Accounting, but she felt the need to spend every moment with him.

"Betty?"

She blinked and looked up, realizing that someone was talking to her.

Daniel was standing by her desk. "Betty, are you all right? I've called your name three times."

She smiled. "I zoned out in a day dream. What do you need, Daniel?"

He glanced down at the papers in his hand, studying the contents as he told her, "I wanted to make sure to tell you not to order my regular sandwich today. I felt like something different."

Perking up, she said, "Do you want me to call that new Italian place? I've heard that they've got good grinders."

Shaking his head, he said, "No, I was hoping for a BLT from Gio's. Could you order that for me?"

She twirled the pencil in her hand. "Are you sure you don't want something else? If you like that new place, you can get someone to write a review in the magazine!"

He finally looked up from his work. "I feel like a BLT. I like the way Gio does it." Thinking that the conversation was over, he headed for his office.

Following behind him, she said, "But you could get a BLT anywhere. I could get it from the cafeteria."

He studied her. She seemed nervous and agitated. Had Gio already told her how he felt? "Why don't you want to call Gio?"

She waved her hands in front of her. "It's not that. Why bring him all of the way down here when you can get a sandwich here?"

Looking at her from under his brow, he said, "Because I like the way Gio does it. And he's a new owner. He could use the business."

Becoming haughty, she said, "He seems to be doing successfully. I'm sure he doesn't need your money, Daniel. It's kind of presumptuous and elitist to think that he does."

He set down his work and sighed. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

Folding his hands in front of him, he said, "You love Gio's sandwiches. You were the one that made me try his BLT in the first place. Why don't you want to see him? Did he say something to you?"

She shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that." She waited for a pause before saying, "Henry just doesn't like that he's around all of the time."

"What are you saying?"

She shrugged. "I told Henry that I wouldn't see Gio anymore."

"Betty, that's ridiculous."

She walked up closer to his desk. "What, it's not that big of a deal. It just means less chicken salad for me."

"Betty, it's a very big deal. Henry's convinced you to date him even though he's leaving and now he's convinced you to stop seeing your friends?" he said, standing up again.

She could feel the heat rising from the base of her hips up her back. "You were the one that said Gio liked me. That doesn't really make him a good friend, does it?"

He looked shocked. "Well, has he ever done anything to you?"

Her eyes darted away. "No."

"Then it doesn't sound like he's trying to steal you away from Henry. Yes, I think he likes you, but he's been a good friend to you."

Her voice shrilled. "I barely know him!"

Ignoring her last comment, he threw his hand in the air. "I thought you were smarter than this, Betty. I never thought you'd let a man tell you what to do."

"He didn't tell me to. I offered."

"How considerate of you."

Betty's jaw dropped. "Daniel, why are you so upset about this?"

He crossed his arms. "Henry is leaving in almost three months and you are losing friends for him. Who will be left by the time he's gone?"

"Gio's not a friend. He's the sandwich guy!"

Raising his eyebrows, he asked, "If he was just the sandwich guy, you wouldn't have to stop seeing him."

Seeing that they weren't getting anywhere, she pursed her lips and said, "So where do you want lunch from?"

He turned away from her and said tersely, "I'll find something later. I've lost my appetite."

She rolled her eyes and left the room.

………………………………………

It had been two days since he had lost the competition to Henry. He had been surprised that Betty had asked him to go flirt with women in front of her, but he had accepted the invite. Hell, she only ever called when she needed something, so he didn't know why he was so surprised. They had been having a good time just talking while he drank his beer until Henry had showed up.

It drove him crazy to wonder what would have happened had Henry never came. Would Betty have gotten jealous over the women he had talked to? Would she have changed her mind and told him not to talk to the blonde? Would she have wanted him to try to woo her?

But none of that happened. What _had_ happened was that he had lost to Henry. Egg Salad had gotten more phone numbers than he did. And Betty probably still had seen him as a knight in gleaming armor. He didn't know for sure, though, because he hadn't seen her since that night. He was hoping that she had finally noticed how big of an ass Henry could be. Seriously, this guy's got a woman as great as Betty and he wanted to risk it by picking up other women's numbers? He sure as hell didn't understand this guy. And he didn't understand why Betty wanted him.

He needed some release. He had been in his apartment with his own thoughts too long. He was itching to get out. Picking up the phone, he took one of the phone numbers and dialed it.

"Hello?"

He smiled, recognizing the feminine yet scratchy voice. "Dulce? It's Gio."

Dulce said, "Hey, you're not shipped out yet."

He coughed softly. "Uh, no, not yet. My orders are for Monday."

He could practically hear her smile on the other side of the line. "That gives us a few days to wish you goodbye properly."

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, his voice thick with meaning.

"Want to meet at the bar at 7:00?"

He nodded. "Sure. See you then." They got off the phone and he went to take a quick shower.

At 7:00, he arrived and sat down at the bar, ordering a beer. He grinned at her when she walked into the room. She was petite, about an inch shorter than him. Her figure was slim and her simple black dress made her look even slimmer and hugged her curves. Her hair was as black as night and fell softly around her shoulders. She had thin lips but a nice smile and warm eyes.

He felt a twinge of guilt telling her that he was going to Iraq.

Walking up to him, she slid onto the stool and ordered a mixed drink. "Hey," she said.

"Thanks for coming," he said.

She smiled. "Thanks for asking me."

"So what do you do?" he asked. He had not had time to ask her during the competition.

Dulce said, "I'm the head chef at _Peroni's." _

He showed surprise. "You cook?"

She let out a breath. "Food is my life."

"I can understand that," he said with a proud smile.

She took a sip of her drink and then said, "You're a chef, too?"

He saw her confusion. "I'm a cook in the army. But I love food."

She laughed. "I know. It's better than sex, right?"

His eyes hazed over. "Depends on the food and the sex."

She cocked an eyebrow. "It's even better when they're put together."

A memory of Betty's grossed out face from when he suggested eating ice cream off a lover's body shot through his head. "You speak my language, girl," he told Dulce.

"I've always prided myself in being multi-lingual," she said as she leaned in seductively close.

………………………..

About an hour later, they were in his apartment sharing another drink. "This is a nice couch," she said as she rubbed the material slowly with the palm of her hand.

Gio, a little buzzed, watched the movement of her hand. "Yeah, it's good for sitting."

Her hand slid over to his thigh. "Is it good for lying on, too?"

Taking their drinks and setting them down, he said, "We can find out." He put his hand on her cheek, her hair enveloping around his hand. She ran her hands through his hair as they came close and kissed. The kiss got deeper as he leaned her back. His hand ran down her side to her thigh. He squeezed it and then ran his hand up her dress.

Just as his hand was about to reach the V of her thighs, she giggled playfully and said, "Would it be corny to say 'be all you can be'?"

Again, Betty flashed through his mind. He heard the last word she had said to him. _Classy_. He immediately tensed. His lips were next to hers, but he was no longer kissing her.

She stopped moving underneath him. "What's wrong?"

He sat up. Damn, he felt like such a chick. "I can't do this."

"Is there a problem?" she asked, looking down towards his lap.

Pushing his hair back with his hand, he said, "I lied to you. I'm not going to Iraq."

She tilted her head. "And you're telling me this now?"

He breathed deep and let it out. "Trust me. I'm kicking myself for it."

"Then what do you do?"

"I own Gio's Deli here in Queens."

"Why'd you come clean?"

He shrugged. "Someone would be disappointed in me had I gone through with this."

She jumped from the couch. "You're married!"

His forehead wrinkled. "No! She's just a friend. I swear I'm not lying about that."

She nodded, trying to understand. "And you're not having sex with me because a friend would be disappointed?" When he said that it was true, she said, "Wow, you have too many problems to hate you for this."

He made a face. "Thanks I guess."

She grabbed her jacket and purse. "I'm taking off. Do yourself a favor and figure out what the hell you're doing."

He stood up and said, "Sorry about this."

She clicked her mouth with her tongue. "Don't worry about it. I should have known that I'd find another hot chef who told me they were someone completely different."

He followed her to the door. "I'm sorry about lying, too."

She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, you kind of suck, don't you?"

A small laugh escaped him. "Lately I have."

She turned and left. Gio shut the door, walked over to the couch, and sat down. He finished his beer in the dark stillness. He felt like a guy who had his foot nailed to the floor but kept running.

……………………………………………

The following Monday, Betty was busy preparing paperwork for Daniel. She had not seen Gio in days and Henry had seemed the happiest and most easy-going that she had seen him probably ever. It wouldn't be much longer and Gio would be a distant memory.

"Hey, Betty."

Her head snapped up at the familiar voice. Gio was walking towards her with a brown bag and a smile. "What are you doing here?"

He lifted up the bag as he said, "You deal with what's on your boss' ass and I deal with what's in his stomach."

Her eyelids dragged down in a long, irritated blink. "He ordered food from you?"

"Yeah," he said, wrinkling his nose. "Why didn't you call it in?"

"Daniel didn't tell me to."

Just then, Daniel walked past them. "Hey, Gio," he beamed. "Is that my sandwich?"

Gio gave him a lopsided smile, handing him the bag. "Sure is, Mr. Meade."

Betty made a move to get up from her desk. "Daniel, I need to talk to you."

Daniel, prepared for this encounter, took a twenty dollar bill from his pocket, and handed it to Gio. "Keep the change, man," he said to him and then turned quickly to Betty saying, "I don't have time to talk now, Betty. Don't interrupt me for the next half hour."

Her eyes glinted at him as she watched him walk into his office and shut the door. She rested back in her chair again, still fuming and still nervous.

Gio sat down on the corner of her desk. "Is something up? I haven't heard from you in days."

"I'm just really busy," she said, avoiding his eyes.

He gave a slow nod. "Oh, 'cause you had said something last week at the bar about seeing a band. But it was before Henry got there and you never said anything else."

Nonchalantly, she said, "It already happened a few days ago. I didn't get a chance to tell you again."

His bottom jaw jutted out in thought. "Why didn't you call?."

He was not going to give up. Sighing, she turned her head away from his as she said, "I didn't think it was a good idea if you came."

Putting his hand in his leather jacket pocket, he said, "But you thought it was a good idea before Henry got there."

Her hair swayed as she shook her head. "You two always fight when you're around each other. It would be better if you didn't hang out."

Gio, confused, said, "But I hardly ever see Henry. When do we hang out—" He stopped talking as the situation became clear. "You mean you and me."

More firmly than she felt, she said, "I think it's best."

He could feel his neck tingling with hot anger and hurt. "_You_ think it's best?"

She looked away again. "Yes."

He shook his head. "No, Henry put you up to this."

"No! He was just uncomfortable. I told him that I would take care of it."

He leaned back away from her suddenly, like she had hit him. "Take care of it?" he repeated. "Am I a poodle you're getting neutered?" When she tried to talk, he interrupted her. "You are not the girl I thought you were."

Now anger shot through her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I thought you were making a mistake by dating this guy that plans to leave you. But I never thought you'd be so stupid as to let him make your decision for you." He looked at her as if she had grown a horn in the middle of her head. "You know what? I think it's a really good idea that you stay away from me from now on. I don't want to be around anyone that doesn't have own free will."

"Gio—"

He put his hand up to stop her. "Just don't come looking for me when he breaks your heart." He stormed away from her, people once again stopping to stare at him as he left.

Betty, embarrassed and upset, barged into Daniel's office. Daniel, looking up, said, "I told you not to interrupt me, Betty."

She stood in front of him, clenching her fists. "How could you do that, Daniel? What gave you the right to interfere?"

He looked at her calmly. "Seriously, Betty? After all of the things you force me to do, you're going to tell me that I was out of line?"

Pointing her finger at him, she said, "I told you that I didn't want to see him."

"And you don't think he deserved to know how you were treating him?" 

"I barely know him!"

His voice stayed low and quiet. "He likes you. Everything he does for you is because of his feelings for you. Isn't that worth anything?"

"But I'm with Henry."

He started to lose his temper. "But not forever. Who's going to be left when Henry's gone?"

She let out a breath. "Stay out of it," she said before walking out of the office and back to her desk.

………………………………………

A week later, Gio was lying in bed. It was barely 8:00 but he was so tired that he just wanted to crash. But he was still too angry to fall asleep.

He was angry at himself for ever getting involved with Betty.

He was angry that he had feelings for her.

He was angry at her for not wanting to see him anymore.

He was angry that she had let Henry tell her who to see.

He was hurting from the fact that she had been okay with not seeing anymore.

His life had been working before he had fallen for her. Before her, he had dated when he wanted. Slept with who he wanted. And now he was lying in bed unable to sleep thinking about a woman that didn't want him.

Frustrated, he yanked the blankets back and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He was determined to forget about her. As he let the cool water run down his throat, he tried to decide what his plan would be. Seeing the pile of phone numbers from the bar on the counter, he added guilt to his anger. He had given women some stories before but they had been one night stands; he had never lied to a woman that he liked before. Until Dulce.

Dulce Bernal was a cool chick. She was hot, loved to cook, and had an easygoing personality. She was different than the other women he had met in the bar that night. Had he not wanted Betty, he would have approached her much differently. On an impulse, he set down the glass, picked up her number, and went over to the phone. After dialing, he heard the dialing tone until an answering machine came on.

"This is Dulce. Do your thing."

After the beep, Gio took a deep breath and said, "This is Gio. I know you probably hate the sound of my voice right now, but I just wanted to apologize for what I did to you last week. You seemed really great and I blew it. If you ever thought it was a possibility, I'd like for you to get to know _me_. The cook. I guess that's it. Sorry again. Good night."

Hanging up the phone, he walked back into his room and got into bed. He stared up at the wall until his eyes finally closed and he fell asleep.

………………………………………

Hilda was giving Betty a facial. "So are you really sticking to this not seeing Gio thing?" her sister asked as she put the green cream on her face.

Betty sighed. "I haven't seen him since he got mad at Mode. I don't understand why he got so upset anyway."

She scoffed. "Really, Betty? Because you guys were starting to hang out a lot. He probably thought you were getting close."

"I wasn't ever going to get that close to him. He's a total dog."

Hilda stepped back from her, cocking her eyebrow. "I'll let you get away with telling him not to see you again, but that's too much."

Betty looked up at her sister, puzzled and agitated. "What? It's true."

She shook her head. "No, it's not, Betty. He's a good guy. If he would have wanted to, I'd still be dating him and would do whatever it took to keep him."

"Oh, come on, Hilda. We're talking about Gio, not some prince."

Hilda threw her hands in the air. "You never get it, do you? How can you talk about Gio like that?"

"What do you mean?"

Her sister leaned towards her and lowered her voice deeper as she made her point. "You treat him like he's the lowest life form. The man could have sent you to jail for breaking into his deli and could have made you pay for it but instead he drove you to the hospital and stayed with you all day. Give him a break, Betty."

Betty looked down at her hands contemplatively. "Well, I guess he is a decent guy, but he's still annoying."

Hilda set down the cream and headed for the door. "Ay, I give up. Wash your face and then go call the great guy who's leaving you in three months."

Betty was left sitting in the chair wondering why everyone was getting so upset about her and Gio.

…………………………………

A couple days after his embarrassing phone message, Gio was in his deli mopping the floor, having just closed for the day.

Andre was cleaning down the counter. He chuckled when Gio started singing with the music coming out of the ceiling speakers.

Gio looked up at him, smiling. "What?"

"Good to hear you singing again. It's still off pitch, but good to hear all the same."

Gio smirked. "I always sing."

Andre shrugged, saying, "You sing when you're happy. You looked a little rough for a few days."

Gio's smile faded. "I feel better now. Life keeps going, right?"

Grinning, Andre looked past his nephew out towards the sidewalk. "Looks like it does, amigo." Andre threw the paper towel in his hand into the trashcan and said, "I'm taking off. Night."

Gio frowned as he watched Andre pick up his jacket and head for the backroom. He turned around to see what his uncle had been staring at.

She gave him a sly smile and waved.

He smiled, took his keys from his pocket, and unlocked the door. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"Well, after that sappy message you left on my machine, I had to stop by and tell you that I forgive you," Dulce said as she walked past him. "Besides, I just have to try one of your sandwiches."

Shutting the door and relocking it, he said, "Okay."

TBC


	7. Dancing and Mayhem

Okay, this is really more of a rough draft than a completed chapter, but I couldn't stop myself from posting it. It's all angst and little moving forward, so to all those who wanted a little more ganging up on Betty—Enjoy! As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

Chapter 7

Dulce leaned against the counter as she ate her sandwich. "This is orgasmic, Gio," she said as she took a bite. "Has anyone told you that before?"

He took a drink of the Coke that he had gotten from the fountain. "I've heard that they taste like purple."

"I love all types of food but I never thought a sandwich could be this good."

Defensively, he said, "Hey, sandwiches are an art form."

Through a bite, she said, "Only when you make them."

He silently took the compliment. "You'll have to return the favor now. I want to try this great food from the head chef at Peroni's."

"Next time," she said, nodding. Trying to change subjects, she said, "So why did you leave me a message?"

"I wanted to apologize."

She washed down her last bite with a drink of water. "But what about the chick? The one that stopped us mid-foreplay?"

Looking away, he said, "We're not speaking."

Her eyebrows rose. "So what does that mean?"

"That whatever it was is over."

She looked at him earnestly. "It's okay if there's still feelings there."

Surprised, he cocked his head. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Doesn't mean you'll always feel that way." She leaned conspiratorially close to him, almost whispering, "I can be quite persuasive."

…………………………………………………

Betty and Henry were at the back of the bar watching the new lead singer of IRS sing. They held hands as they swayed along to the music. "They're a lot better now," Betty said of the band.

Henry smiled. "At least no one's tried to throw a beer bottle at their heads this time. I think that's an improvement."

She laughed. "Henry, I'm proud of you for trying to do something different."

"I'm just managing a band."

Shrugging, she said, "But you must feel uncomfortable in here. I know you do."

"Yeah, but you make me feel better." He bent down and kissed her lightly.

…………………………………………

Gio and Dulce had eaten hot dogs from a street vendor and decided to walk down the crowded New York streets until they found something interesting. It was their first date since Dulce had come to his deli to forgive him. They kept bumping into each other from all of the people, so he took the opportunity to slip his hand into hers.

She looked at him and smiled. "That was smooth."

He grinned. "I've got game from time to time."

She turned her head away from him coyly, her hair whipping behind her. "I'd say that you do." She looked up and excitedly stopped in front of a bar, saying, "Hey, my friend loves this place. It's a little dive but they've always got these horrible bands that are hilarious to make fun of."

Smirking, he said, "You're easily entertained aren't you?"

"I'm a girl on a budget in New York. I _have_ to be easily entertained." Still holding his hand, she pulled him towards the entrance. "C'mon. I'm sure we can dance to anything."

Following her in, he stood a little past the entrance and looked around. "Wow, this is a dive."

She laughed. "Dance with me."

"You don't want drinks first?"

Looking him directly in the eye, she said, "Let's make ourselves thirsty."

"You _can_ be persuasive," he said as they moved onto the dance floor.

The song was bad but it had a solid, fast enough beat. "See? I knew we would dance well together," she said playfully as they moved so well that they were gaining attention from the people around them.

They had certainly gained Henry's attention. "Betty, what is he doing here?"

By this time, Betty had been sitting at the bar focusing on her drink. Her head whipped up. "Who?" Following his eyes to the dance floor, she saw Gio with a slender brunette.

The pair danced so freely and expertly that simple steps looked exciting and erotic. Their hips moved back and forth in sync and the woman was so confident in his attention and her skill that she reminded her of Hilda. "I don't know, Henry," she said a few moments later. "I didn't invite him."

Raising his eyebrows, he looked at her incredulously. "He followed us here?"

She scoffed, but secretly wondered at the possibility. "I think you're giving me too much credit here."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She pointed at Gio with her hand, saying, "That he's clearly here on a date and he didn't know we'd be here."

He glanced at her again. "You didn't tell him?"

Agitated, her voice raised. "No, Henry. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks. I told you I wouldn't."

He looked back at Gio and the attractive woman dancing with him. "He found someone pretty fast."

A feeling she didn't want to define crept through her gut. "Yeah, he knows how to get a woman."

His eyes flew back to hers at her choice of words.

Now anger snapped through her nerves. "Damn it, Henry. I meant because of that dating book. Stop looking at me like I'm trying to find the best way to leave you."

He turned to her, putting his face closer to hers. "I'm not! I said I trust you completely and I do."

Her eyes drifted away from his. "You don't make me feel like it."

"How can I prove to you that I do?"

She threw her hands up and shook her head. "I don't know, Henry. Just focus on us. Try to forget that he's there."

"Okay," he said confidently. They sat at the bar talking, pretending as if Gio was not there.

Until Gio and Dulce walked up to the bar.

They ordered their drinks. Gio just happened to look their way and saw that he was only a few stools away. He closed his eyes. Damn, he had the worst luck. He gave them a quick wave that looked more pissed off and irritated than happy to see them.

Dulce leaned over to look at the couple he had waved at. "Who's that?"

Dryly, he said, "The chick that gives me a conscience and her boyfriend."

She frowned contemplatively. "Those are the two that drive you crazy? They look boring."

He sighed. "I'm as surprised as you are."

Henry and Betty sat in uncomfortable silence as they could hear Gio and Dulce drinking, laughing, and enjoying each other.

"Henry, maybe we should at least say hi."

He looked down at her, wounded. "Why?"

"Because we're sitting here rudely like we don't know each other."

Smirking, he said, "Betty, you told him that you don't want to see him anymore. I don't think jovially greeting him and his date is the proper etiquette here."

"I don't know what to do. It's not like I've been in a situation like this before."

"Like I have?" he said, wrinkling his forehead.

Gio sighed. He had so wanted to forget about them tonight. Staring at the wall in front of him, he said, "We can hear you over here."

Betty and Henry froze mid-argument and looked at each other. "We're sorry, Gio," Betty said as politely as she could. "We just didn't know what to do."

Without turning his head, his eyes shifted to look over at them. "Well, if you hadn't let Egg Salad make your decisions for you, you wouldn't have this problem."

Affronted, Henry turned. "Hey, we were trying to be nice."

Dulce leaned over again to look at Henry. "Actually, you were trying to decide if you should be nice."

Gio, puffed up by Dulce's defense, told Henry, "Yeah, you're a real giver, man. That's why you force your girlfriend to do what _you_ want."

Henry's eyes flashed. "Excuse me?"

Betty jumped off the barstool and went over to Gio. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she said, frustrated. She forced herself not to look at the woman sitting close to him.

He spun in the seat to look at her. Cockily, he put his elbows on the bar and raised his brows. "We _are_ talking."

Reaching out, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a corner. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

He let out a breath of air. "I was trying to have a date."

"Here?" she pushed.

He raised his hands, his beer still in his hands. "I didn't know that this crappy band was Henry's. You never told me where the bar was, remember?"

She looked down, embarrassed. "Yeah."

Coldly, he scanned the club, avoiding her eyes. "Can I go back to my date now?"

Her face scrunched pleadingly. "Could you please just leave?"

He laughed mirthlessly. "I'm not going to go just because Egg Salad is uncomfortable."

Her eyes glinted. "I thought you weren't going to call him that anymore."

His eyes flew back to hers. "I don't have an obligation to you anymore, do I?"

"No, I guess you don't."

He nodded. "Good. Can I find my date now before Eggy tries to impregnate her, too?"

Anger boiled over. "Oh, and I'm sure she's just willing and ready, right? Where did you pick her up—at your favorite strip club?"

His face got dangerously close to hers. "She's one of the women from the bar. She actually knows how to handle life and men like an adult."

She felt like he had hit her in the gut. She felt the need to hit him back. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled when she finds out that you aren't some great scientist or astronaut."

He smiled arrogantly. "I told her the truth. She's a head chef in a great restaurant here. We've got a lot in common actually."

Her plan had backfired. Now feeling even worse, she said bitterly, "How great for you. Go somewhere else and eat food off of each other."

She walked into it again as Gio stared her down and said, "That sounds like a really good idea."

"Good!" she nearly shouted.

"Good!" he hissed back.

They walked away from each other and went back to their dates.

…..

Gio stood by Dulce again. He looked beaten down.

"Do you want to go?" she asked, putting her hand on his arm.

He looked at her apologetically. "Please?"

"Sure." She grabbed her purse in one hand and _his _hand in the other as they walked out of the bar. "I think you could use a cup of coffee and a long talk with a sounding board."

"Thanks," he said quietly, embarrassed that he needed someone to talk to.

……

Betty went back to Henry. She looked pale and sick. "I'm going home."

He put his hands on either side of her shoulders. "Why? Are you okay?"

"I just don't want to be here right now."

"Because of Gio?" he asked, his face serious and dark.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Don't do this now, Henry. Just let me go."

Worried, he asked, "Do you want me to take you home?"

"No, stay here with the band. I'll take the subway."

Kissing her forehead, he said, "Good night. I love you."

She gave him a small, obligatory smile. "I love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow."

As she turned from him, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Tomorrow? Are you not going back to the apartment?"

She shook her head tiredly. "No, I think I want to go home."

…………………………

Gio and Dulce were sitting half an hour later in his apartment drinking coffee. "You didn't have to come back with me," he said, although he was grateful that she did.

"You just look like you could use a nonjudgmental ear."

He glanced over at her from her spot across the couch. "And you're a nonjudgmental ear?"

She tilted her head in agreement. "Well, I barely know you, so I have no investment yet. If you need a friend, I'll be a friend."

Holding his cup with both hands, he stared into it as if it had answers. "I think I could use a swift kick to the head."

"I could help with that, too," she said, smiling.

He smiled back at her. Growing serious, he said, "I knew I shouldn't get involved with her. So I tried to be a friend and I got bit."

"I think both of you got bit tonight."

His brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

She took a sip of her coffee. "I saw her face. She was hurting, too." When he didn't say anything, she said, "So now you've got to decide what you're going to do."

"Huh?"

"You can either fight for her or let her go. What do you want to do?"

He thought about. He saw Betty's smiling face staring back at him. Then he saw the anger in her face from earlier that night. He was just so tired. "I want to forget I met her."

"Then you should try to move on when you feel ready."

He put his cup on the coffee table and turned to face her better. "Do you still want to do that with me?"

She gave him a small, hopeful smile. "Yeah, I really do. But maybe we should start as friends first and see where it goes from there. I don't think either of us should rush into something."

He thought about it and nodded. "Why are you so smart?"

Before she took another swallow of her coffee, she said, "Maybe it's because I was the kid that actually _did _eat all of her vegetables."

TBC


	8. Choices

Okay, here's the next chapter! I just want to thank everyone who has either been reading or reviewing or both! Thanks to all of those who have been a nice sounding board or helping voice in the writing process. You know who you are. :)

Chapter 8

The morning after the incident in the bar, Henry went to the Suarez home and knocked on the door. Ignacio opened the door. He greeted Henry politely but with the air of incivility he had become used to from her father.

"Hello, Mr. Suarez. Is Betty still here?"

Ignacio stepped back to let him in. "She went to bed pretty early last night and still hasn't come out. What happened? Did you get into a fight?"

_Not with each other_, he thought, but instead said, "No, she just didn't feel well. Do you mind if I go check on her now?"

"She's _your_ girlfriend," he said before turning and going back into the kitchen.

Henry went upstairs and knocked softly on her door before letting himself in. She was on her stomach, her mouth open through her mouth guard as she snored. Chuckling, he decided that he didn't want to wake her up. He pulled her blankets over her and sat in a chair across the room, watching her sleep.

He loved her so much. He wished that he had met her under better circumstances. He wished that he had never gotten involved with Charlie when she had moved from Tucson to New York. He wanted so badly to stay with Betty, to love her as she needed him to completely. But he loved his baby, too, and he had to go back for it. He wanted everything to work out, but he knew they were both going to get their hearts broken in three months.

And Gio would be there to pick up the pieces. He hated that thought. Betty had told him that she didn't want him to be like Gio, but even he wished that he was more like him. Gio was so confident. He had his life together. Henry was struggling to keep his head above water. Why would Betty wait around for someone like him when Gio was ready, willing, and able?

Despite herself, Betty did seem intrigued by Gio, which killed him even more. She didn't realize how often she called him for help or brought up his name in a conversation. After watching that fight between them last night, he could not ignore the fact that Gio most certainly had feelings for her and he was worrying more and more if Betty felt the same way.

"Henry?"

Her shaky voice stirred him from his thoughts. "Good morning," he said, smiling.

Rubbing her eyes, she took off her head gear and put on her glasses. "What are you doing here?"

He walked over to her and sat down on the bed, putting his arm around her legs. "I didn't like how we left things last night. I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I had a fight with Gio, not you, Henry," she said, tilting her head as she looked at him. She was still struggling to wake up.

He looked away from her. "I know. It's just…"

She sighed. "Henry, that fight doesn't mean anything. I wouldn't have even got into a fight with him if you hadn't wanted me to stop seeing him."

"That was your decision."

She could feel heat rising through her. "It was a decision I made for you."

He hadn't come over to fight with her, but now he felt flustered. "If it's that much of an imposition, go back to seeing him."

"That's not what I'm saying. But you know what Gio's like. I've made the decision to stop hanging out with him, and that's just going to make him more abrasive if we run into him like we did last night," she said, putting her hands on his. "That fight was not my fault and it's not something I wanted."

His voice softened as he said, "You could have just ignored him. You talked to him."

She squeezed his hand. "I just didn't want to be any ruder to him than I already have been by telling him that I didn't want to be his friend anymore. I'm not that person that can be openly mean to someone, Henry."

He gave her a small smile. "I know. I love you for it."

She looked into his eyes, searchingly. "And I love you for being understanding."

"I do understand," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "He was a friend. It will be hard to completely let him go."

Scooting over to wrap her arms around him, she asked, "Are we okay?"

"Yes," he whispered into her ear. "We're okay." He started to lean her back against the bed.

Giggling, she pushed him back. "Henry, what are you doing?"

Like a little boy, he said, "I'm trying to make up."

She smiled. "Not here. Not now! I haven't brushed my teeth and my entire family is in the house."

He conceded. "Okay, do you want to get ready and get some brunch?"

She nodded, scrambling out of bed. "I've got to do something afterward, though."

"Work?"

_No_. "Yeah," she lied. "I need to talk to a Mode client. He's really testy."

He agreed to the plan. Going downstairs to wait while she took a shower, he sat on the couch, putting his hands on his knees as he sat in the unusually quiet room.

Justin came into the living room. "Hi, Henry. Grandpa's making breakfast. Do you want anything?"

Henry waved at him. "Hi, Justin. No, Betty and I are going to brunch. Thanks for offering, though."

Justin shrugged. "Can I sit with you while you wait?"

"Sure."

After a few moments of silence, Justin said suddenly, "So is my mom still dating that Gio guy?"

Henry's head whipped over to the teen. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

Pursing his lips, he said, "Someone's always mentioning his name around here and it makes my mom uncomfortable. Plus, she's totally sneaking out of the house at least once a week. She only does that when there's a guy."

Henry frowned. "Whoever it is, I don't think it's Gio."

"What about Gio?" Betty asked as she came down the stairs.

"Is Mom dating him?"

Betty's face scrunched. "It was just one date, Justin."

"Well, I'm glad," Justin said. "They totally weren't that into each other." He hadn't noticed how uncomfortable he made Henry and Betty by his choice of words. "But she's definitely seeing someone," he added.

"If it was someone important," Betty said, "she'd let us know."

Justin didn't look convinced. Instead, he looked concerned.

Betty smiled compassionately at him. "I'll look into it, Justin."

"Thanks, Aunt Betty."

She patted him on the shoulder, then left for the restaurant with Henry.

…………………………………

Gio's expression, the one filled with pain and disappointment as he walked away from her the night before, kept flashing through her mind. She had promised Henry she wouldn't see him, but this would be the last time that she would. She needed to see him. She didn't want to be the kind of person that fought with a friend in a bar and never spoke to them again.

She went to the address that he had given her the day Mode had paid him for driving her to Jersey. Knocking on the door, she held her breath as she waited.

Opening it, he looked at her over the threshold. "This is your idea of staying away from me?"

She fiddled with the straps of her purse. "I wanted to apologize for how I talked to you last night."

His face stormy and judgmental, he said, "Apology accepted." He tried shutting the door in her face, but she stopped him.

"I'm trying to do right by Henry," she pleaded.

"You've succeeded. Can you go now?" He tried to shut the door again.

She put her foot between him and the door, coming closer to him. "Can you give me an inch here?"

His brow furrowed and his face leaned closer to hers. "Why? So Henry can take a mile? No thanks."

Frustrated, she squirmed. "Gio, you're a friend. But Henry's my _boyfriend_."

He squinted at her, reminiscent of the cocky way he used to look at her. "You say that a lot."

"What?" she asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

He folded his arms in front of him, saying, "You throw around the phrase 'Henry is my boyfriend' all of the time. Are you trying to convince someone or are you just trying to convince yourself?"

Her blood boiling, she said through gritted teeth, "I made a mistake coming here."

"Then why did you?"

"I told you it was to apologize."

"Nah, that's crap," he said, shaking his head.

Her mouth dropped and only squeaks came out. "No, it's not!"

"You're here because you know what you're doing is stupid and you want someone to tell you so," he said as calmly as he could. "You know what? I'm not going to do you any more favors."

He backed up and shut the door, leaving her standing there as angry and confused as he was.

…………………………………

Betty and Henry were lying in bed together that night. Her friendship with Gio was over. As her fingers twirled through Henry's hair, she decided never to think about Gio Rossi again. All he ever did was upset her, annoy her, and confuse her.

Henry was simple. He loved her and she loved him back. He supported her instead of constantly questioning her decisions. He didn't make her blood boil. He didn't make her want to _woof _at him in public. He was steady, a sweet fantasy that she had always wanted.

And he was tucking his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her stomach. He stared into her hazed eyes, his voice breaking the stillness in the room as he said, "What are you thinking about?"

She smiled. "You."

Nudging her with his arms, he said, "Yeah? What about me?"

"I was just thinking about how great you are."

He kissed her stomach. "I could love you forever, Betty."

"I _will_ love you forever, Henry," she said, caressing his cheek.

……………………………………

Betty went home the next day to talk to Hilda. She found her in her salon preparing to open for the day. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.

Hilda wiped down the sink with a rag, saying, "Sure, Betty. What's up?"

"Justin thinks you're sneaking out at night to see a guy."

She turned her head to look back at her sister. "Why would he think that?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Because when you sneak out, it's always to meet a guy."

Hilda looked away. "Not this time."

Betty walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. "Then what is it? Is it serious?"

Shrugging, she said, "I've been going to bereavement meetings."

"For Santos?" When Hilda nodded, Betty asked, "For how long?"

"A few months."

Betty rubbed her sister's arm. "Is it helping?"

She nodded, her voice getting quiet as she said, "I just needed some more time moving on."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't want to worry you, especially Justin," she said. "I want him to know that I'll be okay."

"You _will _be okay," Betty said, hugging her.

Hilda squeezed her sister. "I don't know what I would do without you all."

"You won't ever have to worry about that."

……………………………………………

A little over a month later, everything had settled back into its regular routine. Hilda and Justin were getting happier each day. Betty had not seen or spoken to Gio in nearly five weeks. She and Henry were going stronger than ever. Life was almost back to normal.

She was putting out ice cream bowls on the table next to their chosen condiments for the night. She had let Henry pick out the movie, so she was waiting for him to come out of the bedroom and put it in the player. "Henry, I'm going to eat your ice cream if you don't hurry." She smiled as she finally saw him step into the room until she saw he was on his cell phone frowning.

"But she's going to be okay?" he asked and then listened intently on the other line. "I don't understand what happened," he said after a few more minutes. "

"Henry, what's wrong?" Betty asked, bounding up next to him.

He waved at her to be quiet. "I'm on my way. I should be there by morning."

When he hung up, she asked, "Henry, what is going on?"

He looked pale and jittery. "That was Charlie's mom. She's gone into labor prematurely."

Betty gasped. "Oh, my…What are you going to do?"

He hurried back to his bedroom and pulled out his suitcase. "I'm going to Tucson, Betty. My baby's about to be delivered."

She helped him pack clothes as she asked, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

The words jolted him out of his panic briefly. Taking her by the arms, he said, "Go with me."

Her eyes bulged. "What?"

"I need you, Betty. Now more than ever. As soon as I'm off that plane today, I'll be moving to Tucson. I want you to be there with me," he begged, his face close to hers, his eyes intently staring into hers.

"Henry, I don't know."

Pulling her closer, he said, "You told me that you would love me forever. Why shouldn't forever start today?"

Holding her breath, she closed her eyes. As she reopened them, she said softly, "Okay."

He smiled and kissed her quickly. He finished stuffing his suitcase and scurried out of the room, saying, "I'm going to leave now. Why don't you take care of everything you need to here, and meet me in Tucson tomorrow?"

She shook her head, surprised, saying, "We're not leaving together?"

"There's not enough time. If the baby's healthy enough to for me the hospital, I'll meet you at the airport tomorrow."

"Let me drive you to the airport," Betty offered.

"No, you need to put up the ice cream and then go talk to your family," he said, opening the front door.

"I love you," Betty started to say but Henry never heard it as he shut the door behind him.

The stillness enveloped her as she fully started to realize that she had just agreed to drastically uproot her life.

TBC


	9. Decisions

It took me forever, but here it is. This one's for all those who've helped me through it such as Angel, Purple, Beatrice and the rest of the bunch. Read, enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 9

As soon as Betty opened the door that night, she heard her family at the dining room table laughing and talking. Pangs of nervousness invaded her stomach as she realized that those familiar sounds would be so distant to her by tomorrow. Walking into the room, her family greeted her with surprise.

Around a mouthful of enchilada, Hilda said, "Betty, I thought you'd be stuffing yourself with ice cream crying over a movie right now."

"Is everything okay, mija?" Ignacio asked.

Betty sat down on her chair at the table. "Charlie went into premature labor. Henry's trying to get on a plane right now to fly back."

Justin's mouth dropped. "Is the baby going to be okay?"

Tears stung at her eyes as the emotion finally started to overwhelm her. "I don't know. He left before he told me anything."

Hilda took her sister's hand. "I'm sure Henry will call you as soon as he knows something."

Betty looked down at the table, sliding her hand from beneath Hilda's. "There's something else I have to tell you."

"What is it?" her father asked, worried.

"I…told Henry that I would go to Tucson."

Hilda shrugged. "Well, it will be expensive, but maybe it would be good to be with him for support."

Betty shook her head. "No, I mean I'm moving to Tucson."

They gasped in unison. "Have you lost your mind?" Ignacio nearly shouted.

"You can't move to Tucson!" Hilda cries.

"Aunt Betty, what about Mode?" Justin asked amidst the rest of his family's admonishments.

Flustered, she blurted, "I'm quitting Mode! I'm moving to Tucson! I want to be with Henry!"

Her father stared her down disappointedly. "You'd give up everything for this man? Someone who hasn't thought twice about moving away from you?"

She threw her hands up. "He has a baby to take care of! I'm not giving anything up. I'm just changing my dreams a bit."

"Betty, do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" Ignacio asked.

She shot off of her chair. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Her family instantly stopped talking. "So soon?" Hilda asked quietly.

She nodded. "I wish I didn't have to leave you, but I need to be with Henry."

Ignacio's voice slid quietly through his gritted teeth. "You are being so childish. What would your mother think?"

Anger, hurt, and doubt overtook her. "Mom wanted me to find someone that loved me. She told me to keep a hold of that love." Her voice got higher and louder as she said, "And look at what you and she did! You ran to New York and got married!"

Now he stood, his face wrinkled with anger. "We were trying to save Rosa's life. Don't you dare compare this fantasy you've created in your head to what Rosa and I had."

Hilda put her hands up between them. "Basta, enough! Yelling at each other isn't going to make this any better or any easier."

Betty looked away and said, "I'm packing some stuff tonight and then I'm going to go find Daniel."

Ignacio, breathing more slowly, said in a calmer voice, "Please think this through, Betty."

Looking him in the eyes, she said, "I love you, Dad, but I have to go." She turned and went upstairs.

Hilda followed her into her bedroom. "Betty, are you sure about this?"

Betty pulled out her suitcase from her closet. As she put it on the bed and unzipped it, she said, "No, but I have to do it anyway."

Hilda went over to the bed and hugged her sister. "Then you should go. But if it doesn't work out, you can always come home."

Tears welled in Betty's eyes. "I know."

They continued to hug each other tightly in silence for several minutes.

…………………………………………

Daniel cursed when he heard the knock at the door. He had been licking his wounds from his breakup with Renee with a pretty blonde. He went to the door and opened it. "Betty, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

Glancing back towards the bedroom, he said, "Betty, I'm a little busy here."

"I'm quitting, Daniel."

He stared at her blankly. "What?"

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she stood in the hallway. She didn't want to tell him in this way. Walking past him, she went inside his apartment and began pacing. Rambling quickly, she said, "Charlie's having the baby. Henry's flying home now and I'm moving to Tucson tomorrow."

His eyes bulged. "Tomorrow? Betty, you must be joking."

All the air left her body, her shoulders sagging. "No, I'm going."

He plopped onto the couch, his face getting pale. "What about everything you've worked for?"

Defensively, she fought back. "What have I been working for, Daniel? I get your bagel every morning and make sure your dates are worth taking home every night."

He pointed a finger at her, saying, "You know that's not true. Your writing was starting to get great, Betty. You would be publishing soon if you stay here."

Doubt washed over her. She knew he was right. "Right now, Henry's more important than that."

He shook his head disappointedly. "So you're going to leave me unexpectedly without an assistant on Monday? After everything?"

She looked down at the floor as she came over and sat down next to him on the couch. "Amanda knows how to do my job. She's ready."

Tilting his head towards her, he said quietly, "We've got connections to a publishing company in Tucson. I can probably get you a job."

"Thank you, Daniel."

"What am I supposed to do without you?" he asked, barely able to breathe.

Putting her hand on his, she said, "I wish I didn't have to go."

Quickly, he turned and looked into her eyes. "Then don't go, Betty. You'll miss Henry, but you've got your work, your family, your friends _here_."

She closed her eyes painfully. "Don't make this harder than it is."

He leaned closer to her and said more forcefully, "You're making a mistake."

She looked him in the eyes with a sad smile. "You're not the first one to tell me that tonight."

"That's because we're right."

Standing up, she said, "I've got to go and finish getting ready. My plane leaves at 11:30 tomorrow morning."

He stood up and hugged her. "Don't ever be afraid to come back home."

She pulled away from him, slightly startled. "When did you start sounding like Hilda?"

He gave her a small smile, his eyes starting to glisten. "When I found out I was losing my little sister and best friend."

She gave him another hug and then left. Once she was gone, he went back into the bedroom and as politely as possible asked the blonde to leave.

He had to have time to decide what he was going to do tomorrow.

…………………………………

Gio opened the van door for Dulce and she got out. They had been dating for almost two weeks now.

As they walked up the sidewalk, he looked over at her and said, "You ready for this?"

She smiled, cocking her eyebrow and saying, "My first Sunday dinner with the family? Well, I've already gone to Mass—might as well make it a round trip."

Grinning, he said, "You've only sat through church. Tell me how sure of yourself you are after you talk to my entire family while trying not to stare at their bald heads."

She took his hand in hers as they stepped onto the stoop and said, "I think I'll amaze you with my abilities."

"I think you already have," he said, turning to her and giving her a quick kiss. Opening the door, he let her step through, following behind her. They found his father, uncle, and Antonella in their usual Sunday spots in the living room and could hear his mother in the kitchen. Gio had already introduced them to Dulce at church, so he sat down on the couch and guided her to sit next to him.

Andre smiled devilishly as said, "So, Dulce, you haven't gotten tired of our boy yet? We know he can be exhausting."

Gio raised his eyebrows. "I'm exhausting, tio? I seem to recall your last girlfriend running off to a retirement home in Florida because she 'wasn't ready for a commitment,'" he said, quoting the girlfriend's excuse as he ribbed his uncle.

The older man, who was a widower and had been dating for the last five years, chuckled. "It runs in the family, chavo."

Dulce spoke up, crossing her legs and becoming more comfortable as she spoke. "Then you must have good genes, because I find it charming." She winked at Gio as she said, "Plus, I can totally keep you in line when I have to."

His father chimed in now, laughing. "This girl's a keeper, son."

Gio lightly punched his father on the arms, saying, "You just want someone to be whipped like you, Pop."

Before Benny Rossi had a time to respond, Gio's cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Gio? This is Daniel Meade."

He stood up and walked into the foyer. "Mr. Meade? How did you get this number?"

"I had to call Hilda. Look, I don't have a lot of time here," Daniel said. "Betty's getting on a plane to Tucson in a half hour."

There was silence over the phone as Gio paused to take in the information. "She's moving to Tucson? With Egg Salad?"

Daniel said, "I don't think she's planning to take food, but that's not important."

Gio rolled his eyes, frustrated. "Then what is?"

"You obviously know she's making a mistake."

He nodded. "I do. But I don't know what it has to do with me anymore. She cut me out of her life."

Daniel took a deep breath. "That may be, but everyone from me to her family to Christina have tried to talk her out of it."

"And?" Gio interrupted.

"And I think you might be someone she'll listen to. You're our last chance to keep her off that plane."

Gio blinked. He had never expected a phone call like this. Finally he said, "If she wants to ruin her life, that's her decision."

In a curt tone, Daniel said, "I must have been wrong. I thought you cared."

Daniel's words were like a knife through the gut, but Gio said, "I'm sorry I wasted your time."

Daniel hung up the phone without another word.

His family and Dulce had heard most of the conversation, but for once decided not to say anything. Gio looked pale and worried but they all sat awkwardly trying to make conversation.

About ten minutes later, Gio leaned into Dulce and whispered, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

They went back to the foyer. Dulce asked, "So what's up?"

Gio looked at her apologetically. "I need to do one final favor for Betty. Will you be okay with my family for about a half hour?"

Uncontrollably, her heart sank for the first time since she had met Gio. She hadn't heard Betty's name in nearly a month. She had been hoping that chapter had ended. "Go," she said, waving him off with her hand. "But we're going to need to talk when you get back."

He nodded and kissed her on the cheek. "I know. I'm sorry about this, too. But I feel like I need to do this for her _and _her family."

She handed him his coat. "Whatever it is then, good luck."

He opened the door and rushed to his van.

……………………………………………

Betty stood in the airport with her family, Christina, and Daniel. Each of them was either in the midst of crying or trying not to cry. She hugged them for the third time and prepared to go through the gate.

"Betty, call as soon as you get there," Ignacio said as he picked up a suitcase and handed it to her.

"I will, Dad. I promise," she said, trying not to sob as she wrapped her arm around his neck tightly.

"Email us every night, okay?" Hilda asked, wiping the tears underneath her eyes with her well-manicured finger.

"I'm not going to forget you when I get on the plane," Betty said in the tone she usually used with her sister. "I'll call and write every chance I get."

Christina had tears streaming from her face. "Damn hormones," she moaned. "Betty, you have to come home when I have this baby. I'm not doing this alone."

Betty clung to her friend. "I'll be here."

Daniel looked down at Betty and gave her a fake smile. "I'm not ready for you to leave."

She laughed softly, choking back tears. "Amanda will be a good assistant."

His smile faded as his eyes misted. "That's not what I meant, Betty," he said quietly.

Instead of saying anything, she hugged them all again and the crying continued.

"Betty!"

They all turned towards the shouting in a unified huddle. It was Gio, winded and panicked.

Daniel sighed in relief. He had not been wrong about Gio Rossi.

Gio and Betty stepped aside from the group. "What are you doing here?" she asked, setting down her suitcase and bag.

"Daniel called me this morning. He told me about this huge mistake you're about to make," he said in a rough but concerned tone.

She shook her head. "Don't start, Gio."

Putting his hands on either side of her shoulders, he said, "Someone's got to make you listen. Henry's meant to go to Tucson. He's got a baby there. But that's not your place, Betty. There's nothing for you there."

Her brows furrowed. "Henry's there. That's enough."

He couldn't deny that he felt jealous and hurt. But telling her now wouldn't help anything. "You're barely out of college," he exclaimed. "You're 23. You really know want you want for the rest of your life?"

More firmly than she felt, she said, "I know what I want right now."

He raised an eyebrow. "And that's good enough reason to leave everything and everyone you know?"

"Yes, it is."

He looked at her disappointedly and dropped his hands from her arms. "Can't you hear how naïve you sound?"

She gave him an icy glare. "My plane's about to leave. Is being a jerk the last way you want to talk to me before I go?"

He stared into her face before speaking. "No," he said swiftly. "If this is what you really want, then go for it. But don't be afraid to admit when you've made a mistake either."

"I'm not making a mistake."

"Good, then I guess I'll never see you again."

His words hit her unexpectedly. Even though she had promised Henry not to see him, she never had thought it was a possibility that it would be _forever_. "You don't have to be so happy about it," she said tersely, trying to mask her own unexplainable disappointment.

"I'm not." The words had escaped before he could stop them. To save face, he smiled cockily, and said, "Who am I supposed to piss off with you gone?"

She squinted and gave him a smile. "I guess that's your way of telling me goodbye."

His smile drooped a little as he said, "Yeah."

She gave him a hug and said, "Goodbye, Gio."

He closed his eyes as he squeezed her back. "Goodbye, Betty."

Pulling away, she picked up her bags, told her family goodbye once more, and then went through the gate.

Daniel went over to stand next to Gio as they watched her leave.

"It didn't work. She didn't listen to me," Gio said.

Daniel put his hand in his jacket pocket, saying, "You tried. Thank you for that."

After the plane took off, they all left. Their eyes were red from crying as the deep sadness of her departure swept over them.

…………………………………

Betty had been in the air for what felt like days. It had landed and now she was waiting for them to let the passengers off the plane. As she sat there, she wondered about tomorrow.

Tomorrow was a scary concept. She would wake up with Henry. She would get to know his baby. She would find a new job. She would meet Henry's mother.

But she wouldn't see her father tomorrow. She wouldn't argue with Hilda or help Justin with his homework. She wouldn't go to Mode and see Daniel or Christina.

Tomorrow, she would start a new life. Today she just wanted to see Henry, find out about the baby, eat, and go to sleep. She had refused to admit it to anyone, but she was afraid of Tomorrow. She wanted to be with Henry, but she had just given up her world for him.

As people started to stand and get off the plane, she decided not to think that way. She loved Henry and would start a life with him. She refused to worry. She chose to be happy.

She exited the plane and went through the gate. She found Henry waiting for her at the exit in his red sweater, waving and smiling.

She stopped for a moment and smiled at him, but she couldn't help the words that forced their way into her mind, words that she had heard Gio say months ago.

_Wow, you _are _being stupid. _

Shaking the words from her mind, she smiled brighter and ran up to him, throwing her arms around him. "I'm so glad to see you, Henry."

"The baby's here," he gushed. "Let's go home, get you settled, and then head to the hospital."

She put her arm around his waist as his went around hers and they walked to the baggage claim. They were headed _home_.

TBC


	10. Greetings from Tucson

Hi, this is exactly what I wanted, but here it is. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. Thanks for everything!

Chapter 10

It was silent in the van as Gio drove Dulce home. After about ten minutes, without looking over at him, she asked, "So how did it go?"

He kept his eyes on the road. "She moved to Tucson."

Her brow furrowed. "And you were supposed to what? Stop her?"

Taking a deep breath, he readjusted his hands on the steering wheel. "Daniel Meade asked me to talk to her."

Her eyes widened as she asked, "How does she know Daniel Meade?"

"She's his assistant. Well, she _was_."

"And now she's in Tucson." She shrugged. "Wow, that was stupid."

His forehead wrinkled and he cocked his head to finally look at her. "Hey."

Raising an eyebrow, she finally looked at him, too. "Are you going to tell me that _wasn't_ stupid?"

He looked back at the road and said softly, "No."

She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "So where does this leave us?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Gio," she said. It was the first time since they had met that she had ever sounded agitated at him. "You still have feelings for her."

He glanced out his side window at the buildings as they passed by. "I know. I'm sorry."

The words stung but she was grateful to hear the truth. "I like you, Gio. But I don't want to be your consolation prize."

He briefly shut his eyes and shook his head. "I know. And I don't want you to be." He pulled the car over and put it in park. Turning towards her, he said, "It's true that I still have feelings for Betty. But if I didn't want to be here with you, I wouldn't be."

She put her hand on his. "I know those feelings won't just go away. Just promise me that you'll stay honest with me about what's going on with you."

He reached out and put his hand on her cheek. "I promise."

She gave him a small smile. "How about you drive me home and we'll call it a day."

"Okay." He put the car back in drive and pulled out. He wasn't ready to tell her goodbye for the day, but he understood that she probably wanted space. Parking in front of her building, he put his arm on the back of her seat and said, "Can I see you tomorrow?"

Her hair whipped around her shoulders as she turned to look into his face. She could see that he _wanted _to see her. "Yeah, give me a call."

He kissed her on the cheek, his mouth brushing across her face as he took in the flowery scent of her hair. He felt her hand brush against his neck. "I'll call you," he said quietly. Then he watched her get out of the van and go into her apartment building.

As he drove away, he thought about what had happened that day. Betty was making a big mistake and he was worried about what would happen to her. He also knew that he would miss her. He hadn't seen her for a month, but she had still been in the city. If he had decided to see her, he could. But not now. And never again. She was gone. Any chance that he had had with Betty Suarez had left on that plane to Tucson.

Another part of him was grateful. Now that she was gone, he could really start moving on. And he had been honest when he had told Dulce that he wanted to move on with her. He liked her. He wished that he had met her before he had met Betty.

Maybe then, his heart wouldn't feel as though it had been broken.

…………………………………

Daniel was sitting with the Suarezes in their kitchen. They were eating a late lunch that Ignacio had prepared.

"I miss Aunt Betty," Justin said, twirling his fork around his rice.

Hilda frowned and rubbed his back.

Daniel looked over at him. "I miss her, too, Justin."

"We all do," Ignacio said.

"She said she'd be back when Christina had the baby. We'll see her then," Hilda said as hopefully as possible.

Justin looked at her with woeful eyes. "That's in like six months."

"She'll be back before then," Ignacio said. "I know my baby girl. All she's ever had is her family and her dream of owning a magazine. She won't be able to live without those things."

Hilda put her hand on her father's hand that was resting on the table. "But, Papi, she loves Henry."

Daniel stared at the table and said quietly, "She loves the _idea _of Henry."

Hilda glanced over at him to gauge his seriousness. He seemed as though he hoped he was right more than he believed it. As much as she wanted her sister to be happy, she hoped he was right as well.

………………………………………

Henry and Betty were at the hospital staring at the small baby in the incubation chamber. He smiled proudly yet worriedly at the preemie, saying, "I think we're going to name him Casey."

She slipped her hand in his. "Casey Grubstick. It's cute. He's going to be a heartbreaker like his daddy."

He eyed her curiously.

She squeezed his hand. "I didn't mean anything by it, Henry. I'm here and happy. And I'm so excited for your baby."

He let out a breath of relief and kissed her softly on the lips. "We should really check on Charlie."

She tensed at the thought, but nodded. They left and went to Charlie's hospital room. Betty hovered at the door as Henry went in.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Charlie.

"Like I just passed a bowling ball," she said curtly. On a loopy smile, she added, "But the drugs help."

He stepped closer to her. "Casey is beautiful. The doctors say he should be all right."

She closed her eyes, saying, "Good. That's good."

He looked away as he said, "Charlie, if you don't feel up to taking care of Casey when you and he gets out, I'd be more than happy to take him for a while."

Her eyes slid to Betty and she nearly glared at her. "No, I'm living with my parents. We can take care of the baby."

He bobbled his head disappointedly. "Oh, okay. Whatever you think is best."

She sat up in the bed. "Henry, could you go find my parents? I think there in the cafeteria."

As he started to leave, Betty made a move to follow him.

"Betty, I'd like to talk to you for a minute," Charlie called out quickly.

Betty gave Henry a quick, nervous look, but turned and stayed. "Is there something you need me to do?"

"Yeah, there is," she said coldly. "Henry's chosen you. I can't do anything about that. And I can't keep you away from Casey." Her eyes trained on Betty's. "But I can keep you away from me."

"What?" Betty asked, shaking her head, confused.

"Don't ever come to my house, Betty. Don't even try to breathe my air. If you see me, turn around and go the other way. That's the least you can do for me."

Betty felt like she couldn't breathe. She had only gotten to Tucson a few hours earlier and she was already being verbally abused. Tears threatened to overwhelm her. Stammering to find words, her mouth opened and closed. Instead, she nodded and backed out of the room.

She ran into Henry in the hallway, who was walking back with Charlie's parents. Grabbing onto his arms, she said, "Henry, I think I'm going to get a cab home and get some sleep."

Henry's eyes darted to the room. "Betty, what happened? What did Charlie tell you?"

Choking back tears, she said, "Nothing, Henry. It's just been a long day. I'm exhausted. Stay here with the baby. I'll be okay."

"I'll see you in a little while," Henry said, kissing her on the forehead. "Call me if you need anything."

She headed for the entrance and found a cab to take her to Henry's small apartment. She knew that life wasn't going to be easy, but she didn't think she'd already feel like she had been hit in the head with a bag of bricks. Charlie had restarted their feud and it looked like it was only going to get worse.

She felt so alone. Wiping away a tear, she pulled out her cell phone and called home. When her father answered, she nearly cried out, "Dad?"

"Sweetheart, how are you?"

She tried to sound like she wasn't crying. "I'm fine. Charlie had the baby. They named it Casey."

"Are you settled in?"

She got out of the cab and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Henry's building. "Yeah, I just got back from the hospital. I'm about to go to bed."

There was a pause on the other side of the line. "Is Henry not with you?"

"Uh, no. He stayed at the hospital with Charlie and the baby."

"Mija, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Dad. I'm just really tired. How is everybody at home?" She went upstairs and opened the door.

She could hear the sweetness and pain in his voice as he said, "We all miss you, Betty."

A new wave of tears came over her. "I miss you, too."

"Are you sure you don't want to come home?"

A brief flash of doubt caused her to contemplate it. But then she took a deep breath and said, "I'm here now. I'm happy."

His voice was thick with concern. "You don't sound happy."

She smiled sadly. "Dad, I'm happy."

"Then I'm happy for you, mija," he said but didn't sound convincing.

"I've got to go. Goodnight."

She thought she heard him crying as he said, "Call anytime. It doesn't matter when. Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Goodnight, sweetheart. Te amo."

"I love you, too." She hung up and collapsed onto the couch. All of the drama and exhaustion of the past two days had finally caught up with her. She fell asleep there on the couch, crying herself to sleep.

TBC


	11. Routines

Okay, I know it's been forever since I've updated. With being sick and stressed from school and sick of school, I haven't had time to write. So, here it is. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 11

A month had passed and everyone had found a new routine. Betty was at her desk typing a report mindlessly. She was grateful that Daniel had found her a job but she couldn't pretend that she enjoyed it. If she was being absolutely honest, she hated it. There was no opportunity to be a writer here, not like she had at Mode. Also, there was no rush. There was no kinetic, hectic energy. She was stuck in a cubicle with no connection to her boss and no real responsibility to speak of. 

She was bored out of her mind. But it was a paycheck, which she and Henry desperately needed. Excited that it was finally Friday, she filed her last report, grabbed her purse, and rushed out of the building.

Henry was outside in their only car, waiting for her. She ran to the car and got in. Smiling, she said, "Hi, Henry."

He smiled back and put the car in drive. "How was work?"

"Same as always. You?"

He shrugged. "I'm glad it's Friday."

She sighed. "Yeah." 

"Are you ready to get the baby?"

She beamed happily for the first time that day. "Of course. I'm always happy to see Casey."

They drove up to Charlie's parents' house. She had been living there ever since she moved back to Tucson. As Henry started to get out of the car, he noticed that Betty was still sitting there. "Betty, why don't you get out of the car?"

Her mouth opened silently and then she started to stammer, "I'll wait here, Henry. I think it's best."

He let out a breath. "Charlie was upset and had just given birth. I don't think she really meant it forever."

She looked over at him firmly. "I'll wait for you here."

He shook his head. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

She watched him walk up to Charlie's house, knock on the door, and then go inside. Fifteen minutes later, he was carrying Casey in his arm and a diaper bag on his shoulder. He put the baby in his car seat and got back into the car.

Several minutes later, they opened the door to their small apartment. Betty immediately went into the kitchen area and started dinner. As she let the chili cook on the stove, she walked into the living room. Henry was lying on the floor, Casey on his chest. The baby giggled as Henry cooed at him. 

Betty stood there watching them. She didn't want to admit to herself that it partly made her burst with happiness while another part of her heart broke. She loved the baby and she loved to see Henry with him. But as much as she loved Casey, she knew that she wasn't his family. She could leave. She might not end up marrying Henry. Even though they were not together, Charlie, Henry, and Casey were family. So her heart was troubled and happy at the same time. Taking a long breath, she smiled and sat on the floor next to them. She ran her hand through Henry's hair as she rubbed her finger across Casey's cheek. The baby smiled at her.

Henry grinned at her. "He likes you."

She laid down and put her head on his shoulder. "I like him, too." She told herself that the familial scene felt right, that she fit into this world, that she didn't miss her father, nephew, and sister.

…………………………………………

Gio rolled out of bed and put on his boxers. He could hear sunny music and smell bacon cooking in the other room. Rubbing his newly cut off hair, he walked into the kitchen and said, "I either have a sweet girlfriend or a very courteous thief." 

Dulce scraped the eggs from the skillet into two plates. "Well, I stole this t-shirt from you and plan to never give it back, so can I be both?"

He reached out and grabbed her by the hip, pulling her to him. His smiling lips nearly brushed hers as he said, "Yes, but only because the shirt looks better on you anyway."

She kissed him and then looked up at his short, spiky hair. "I don't know why you did that to yourself."

Cocking his head and pushing back his shoulders, he said, "What? It was time for a change." With an arrogant smile, he added, "You know you think it's hot."

She sat down and pulled her plate closer. "I'll admit that the 'thug' look gives you a certain amount of tough-guy appeal."

His eyes squinted as he sat down next to her and said in a husky voice, "Thanks, I think."

"So what do you want to do today?" she said around a large forkful of eggs.

His smile was slow and suggestive. "It's a rainy Saturday morning. What could we possibly find to do?"

"Knitting?" she said innocently.

He chuckled. "I had something a lot less G-rated in mind."

She nodded knowingly. "Oh. Your idea sounds a lot better than mine."

He took her hand and pulled her up from her seat. "Come on."

She laughed. "What are you doing?"

He looked back at her and cocked an eyebrow. "I think we both need a shower."

Following him into the bathroom, she said, "Try as you might, you'll never clean a dirty mind."

He pulled her to him and kissed her. "Let's hope not."

……………………………………………

Several hours later, Dulce was slightly snoring against Gio's pillow. He smiled and brushed her hair from her cheek. He had never met a woman quite like her.

He had never met another woman like Betty Suarez either.

It had been a month since she left for Tucson. He had to admit that he missed her. He wasn't pining away for her anymore, though. His feelings for her were just an emotion in his heart. Like the feelings that he felt for Dulce. Both emotions were constant and present, but only how he felt for Dulce was active, real. 

He lay next to her, listening to her breathe. She had been a positive force in his life in the past two months. He was grateful for that. With a smile on his lips, he realized that he was more than grateful. 

Giovanni Rossi knew that he might very well fall in love with this girl. 

………………………………

The next morning, Daniel was in his office trying to force himself to concentrate. Amanda had proven to be a good assistant, but she couldn't keep him on task like Betty had. 

Over the intercom, Amanda's voice spilled out. "Daniel, a Suarez is here."

His head flew up and he couldn't contain his smile. She had finally come home.

Hilda walked in with a box in her arms. "Hey, Daniel."

His heart dropped at the disappointment that Betty was still in Tucson, but he was happy to see Hilda. "Hi, Hilda. What brings you here?"

She walked up closer to him and set the box on his desk. "I was going through Betty's stuff to send her a care package and I found this. It's apparently Mode things that she had hoarded like files and folders. She must have just forgotten to bring them back."

He shook his head. "That doesn't sound like Betty."

She smiled sadly. "She hasn't sounded like Betty for a while now."

"Have you heard from her?"

She nodded. "She called last night and said that her job is going great and that she loves it there."

"And that doesn't sound like her?"

Her eyes stared into his. "I'm her sister. I can tell when she's lying."

His eyes broke the stare first. "I'm not getting any work done here. Would you want to go get a drink with me?"

She tilted her head, surprised. "Sure, let me just call Justin and Papi so they know where I am."

He let her do so. His heart felt pangs of envy and wonder. He hadn't called a family member to let them know where he was since he was ten. Even as great as his mother was, no one had ever thought to have a phone system or check in with each other. 

About twenty minutes later, they were sitting in a restaurant eating dinner and sipping wine. Hilda looked down bashfully, saying, "I wish I would have dressed for this place. It's a lot swankier than the restaurants in Queens."

He was surprised to see her self conscious. She was always so confident and sure of herself. "Are you kidding? You look beautiful."

She smiled. Her playful cockiness returning, she said, "Don't ever bring Papi here. He'll swear that he can make food twice and good and half as expensive."

He laughed softly. "That sounds like your dad. How is he doing with Betty leaving?"

"He's heartbroken. But he's joined a cooking club, so I think that's helped."

His voice became deeper and his eyes were more serious as he asked, "And how are you?"

She knew he wasn't asking about Betty. He meant Santos. "It's been hard. I'll always have feelings about it, but I'm ready to move on."

He lifted his wine glass. "Here's to moving on."

She clinked her glass to his and took a drink. "To moving on."

Two bottles of wine later, they were sitting close and laughing. "You know, I'm glad that date with Gio didn't work out," Daniel slurred.

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "If it had, I would have gotten jealous."

Her head jerked back, surprised. "You never show it."

"Why do you think I kissed you last year?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because you were upset and pouting."

He moved even closer, his eyes hazed and warm. "I've kissed lots of women for lots of different reasons, but that's not why I kissed you."

She smiled, her face coming closer to his. "No?"

He shook his head. "No. I kissed you because I wanted to."

She whispered softly, "And what do you want to do now?"

"I've always been better at showing than telling," he said. He leaned in and kissed her. "Your place or mine?"

"Do you really want to go back to my place?"

He kissed her again. "You're right. Let's go to my place."

TBC


	12. Happy Birthday

Chapter 12

_Betty woke up to noises coming from the living room. Padding down the hallway in her pajamas, she saw her father, sister, and Justin standing in front of her holding a birthday cake._

"_You're twenty-four now, mija," her father said. "What are you going to do?"_

_Her sister smiled. "Si, dime, Betty. What will you do?"_

_Excitedly, Justin said, "Blow out the candles, Aunt Betty!"_

_She grinned and bent down to blow them out. She was abruptly stopped when she heard a call behind her._

"_Open my gift first, Betty." It was Henry, his back straight, his hand in front of him. There was a small box in his hand._

"_Henry," she cried softly as she took the box from him. Opening it, she found a ring blinking back at her. It was an engagement ring._

"_Blow out the candles, Betty," Justin said again._

_She turned to look at Justin and then back at the ring and Henry. She was about to say something as someone else interrupted her._

_Gio appeared between her and Henry with sad, questioning eyes. "What are you doing, Betty?"_

_She blinked at him. "What?"_

_He said more harshly, "What are you doing?"_

"_Make a wish, Aunt Betty!"_

She jumped with a start, instantly awake. She realized soon after that Henry was shaking her and calling her name.

"Betty, your family's on the phone." When she rolled over to take the cordless phone from him, he kissed her quickly on the lips and said, "Happy birthday, sweet girl."

She chuckled and grabbed the phone. "I'm not a girl anymore."

He smiled. "You're my girl."

Usually, his words would have made her glow, but the tone of possessiveness reminded her of her dream so much so that the scenes that had been in her head were now starting to bother her. Watching Henry leave the room, she took a deep breath and said, "Hello?"

"Happy birthday!"

The announcement had not been one family member but instead a chorus of all three. "Are you all on the phone at the same time?"

Justin piped up saying, "We thought it would be easier this way than Mom or Grandpa hogging all the phone time with you."

Hilda brushed him off and said, "So, Betty, how's your birthday going?"

"I've only been awake three minutes, Hilda."

Her father asked, "Well, how does it feel to be 24?"

As if actually contemplating it, she said, "About the same as 23 did, just in a drier climate."

They all grew quiet. She had reminded them of how far away she really was. A few moments later, Hilda brightly said, "So what do you think Henry got you?"

She thought of the dream again and said uneasily, "I don't know."

"C'mon, Betty," her sister said. "You've been there two months now. You've been dating for almost a year. Do you think he might propose?"

Her father interrupted again. "She's still a baby, Hilda. Don't have her getting married too soon."

"I'm not getting married!" Betty cried. "And I'm not a baby either."

"You're my baby," Ignacio said. "Don't ever forget it."

She smiled. "I know, Dad."

"You should get a gift through the mail today," Justin said. Everyone quickly hushed him about ruining the surprise. "It's her birthday," he cried defensively. "I think she knows she's getting something. I didn't tell her what it was."

"I'll let you know when I get it," Betty said diplomatically. "Thank you."

"We love you, mija."

A lump formed in her throat. "I love you all, too."

They hung up quickly. She decided to take a shower before she joined Henry in the kitchen. She wanted some time to herself to think about her dream and her conversation with her family.

She had been wondering for a few days now if Henry had indeed bought her an engagement ring. It wouldn't be a complete surprise if he did. After all, she had moved out here for him. Apparently, her family expected it. But what would she do if he did ask her? At that question, Gio's face formed in her mind. _What are you doing? _he had asked. Would she say yes? Was that her wish? Or was there another wish she had wanted granted on her birthday?

As she stepped into the shower, she honestly wasn't sure.

After her shower, she got dressed and went into the kitchen. A plate of pancakes shaped into smiley faces were on the table in front of her chair. "This is a nice birthday surprise."

He took a bite of his own pancakes and then said, "I just wish we didn't have to go to work today."

She shrugged. "It's okay, Henry."

Tilting his head so that he could eye her mischievously, he said, "Well, be prepared for tonight because there'll be a _big _surprise waiting for you when you get home."

She feigned an excited smile. Even though she was curious, she would never allow herself to get worked up again about one of Henry's surprises after the ice cream disappointment. But part of her still wondered if he was planning to propose.

Half an hour later, Henry dropped her off at work. She pretended to focus on her responsibilities, but her thoughts were otherwise occupied. It had been two months since she had moved there and the people that she worked with still didn't know her name. Henry's mother had planned a party for Charlie's birthday six weeks ago but had conveniently forgotten Betty's today. But that would all be okay if Henry would spend a great night with her. Just the two of them. Maybe even with a bottle of wine and some soft, romantic music…and a little box with a ring in it…She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She had to stop thinking like this. But she knew it would be a fruitless attempt all day.

Just before she was to get up and leave for the day, a couple of coworkers gathered at her desk with a cupcake. They smiled and said, "Happy birthday, Betsy!"

"Oh," she said with a fake cry. Then under her breath, said, "It's Betty." She thanked them, took her purse and cupcake, and headed for the elevators. She went downstairs, outside, and into Henry's car.

As they went into their apartment a few minutes later, Betty asked, "So what's my surprise?"

He smiled cunningly. "Why don't you take a long bath and I'll give it to you when you're done?"

She smiled back. "Do you want me to wear something special?" she asked flirtatiously.

"It's your birthday," Henry said happily. "Wear your favorite outfit."

Her face drooped as she turned. She knew his answer was thoughtful. He wanted her to be comfortable and wear whatever she wanted. But she was hoping for more excitement, more sexual confidence. She sometimes wished that he was more brazen. Nonetheless, she took a bath, trying to relax in her favorite bubble mixture. But she was too curious about his surprise now to even really enjoy it. Getting dressed in one of her favorite skirts and blouses, she was hoping that she looked nice just in cased he asked her something important.

When she went back into the living room, she could smell familiar food that she had not smelled in two months. "Henry? What are you cooking?"

He turned around and greeted her. "You look pretty," he said. "This is part of your birthday surprise. I asked your dad to send me recipes for your favorite birthday dishes."

Her heart melted and she felt guilty for ever wishing he were different. "Aw, Henry, that was so sweet."

He put the plate in front of her. "I just hope it's half as good as your father's."

She took a bite. It wasn't as good. But she appreciated the attempt. "It's delicious."

"So how was work?"

She rolled her eyes. "They still think my name is Betsy."

He laughed softly. "Well, we'll forget about that for today. You've still got a surprise."

Her face brightened again. "Yeah?"

He nodded. "As soon as we're done with this, we're going out."

Half an hour later, they put on jackets and went for a walk. "Where are we going, Henry?"

"I thought we could get some ice cream and walk in the park."

She took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "You're being romantic tonight."

He looked down at her. "My girl only turns twenty-four once. It should be a special day."

They bought their ice cream and walked through the park, eating and talking and laughing. Once they were done eating, Henry found a bench and asked for them to sit down.

Her heart started to beat a little faster. She tried not to give away that she knew he was proposing in her face. "Why are we sitting down?" she asked innocently.

He beamed. "I wanted to give you your final birthday gift."

"Oh?" she asked half as interestedly as she really was.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small jewelry box. He put it in front of her and opened it.

Her heart had stopped beating. Until she saw what was inside the box. It was a pair of delicate gold earrings in the shape of tiny _Bs_. Tears welled in her eyes, but they weren't the tears of joy and excitement that she had planned on. In a thin voice, she tried to sound happy, saying, "Oh, Henry. They're very pretty."

"I hoped you would like them," he said on a proud, soft laugh. "I thought they would match your necklace."

She nodded thoughtlessly. "Yes, they do."

He stood up. "Are you ready to go back home?"

She forced herself not to cry. "Sure. And thank you for the gift."

They went back home in relative silence. As the entered the living room, Henry said, "Betty, are you okay? You've seemed upset ever since we left the park."

She turned away from him, avoiding his eyes. "I'm just tired."

He shook his head. "But I know your tired face and this is your upset face."

She let out a mirthless laugh; if she hadn't been upset, she would have found that statement adorable. She would have found it cute three months ago. "This has been a good birthday, Henry. Just not what I expected."

His brow furrowed. "What did you expect?" She looked at him with expressive eyes that said it all. His head tilted up. "Betty, we're not ready for that."

"We're not?" she softly cried. "We've known each other for two years. I've moved out here for _you_."

In an exasperated voice, he asked, "Every time we get into a fight, are you going to throw that into my face? That you left everything for me?"

Her voice rose. "I'm not trying to gain leverage, Henry. But I _did _leave everything for you. My job, my family, my friends. I have to know that there's a commitment here."

His eyebrows rose. "We've been living together for two months. That's not commitment?"

She shook her head. "No, Henry. It's not. It's you and me shaking up while you take care of your ex-girlfriend's baby and your mom dotes all over her."

He glanced away. "My mom likes you."

She scoffed. "Your mom likes Charlie. She barely tolerates me."

"Does that even matter?"

She was taken aback by his question but quickly responded. "No, it doesn't. What does matter is that you are afraid to marry me."

"I'm not afraid, Betty."

"You're not?"

"No."

She stood her ground. "Then why didn't you ask me?"

"I'm not afraid to marry you eventually, but what if it doesn't work out? I don't want to ask too soon."

She felt like her heart was ripping from her chest. "I didn't come all this way out here for you to be unsure of us. I came here because I thought that you knew that I was the one."

"You are the one."

Quietly, she said, "Right now. Right now you think I'm the one. But you're not sure. And that's why you haven't committed."

"So what are you saying, Betty? That I have to ask you or you're going to leave?"

She shook her head, shocked. "I never said anything about leaving."

As if not hearing her, he said, "Because I'll ask you then."

She had never been more hurt by words than the ones he had just spoken. "I don't want to give you an ultimatum, Henry. I shouldn't have to."

"What are you saying?"

She headed for the bedroom. "If you feel like I have to threaten you into marriage, then I shouldn't be here. You're right; I should leave."

He followed her and watched her take out a suitcase. Falling apart, he asked, "So that's it? We're breaking up? After all this time?"

She stood straight up, her hand on her suitcase. "I can't stay here, Henry. Not if that's how you feel. I hate it here. And the only thing that kept me the least bit happy was the thought that we had a future. If we don't, I need to go home."

A tear rolled down his eye. "We're just going to stop dating?"

Now she started to cry as she packed. "We have to. We can't date long distance until Casey goes off to college. Your commitment should be to him. Not me. My commitment should be to my work, my family."

"Don't you love me?"

She stopped packing and came around the bed to hold him. "Of course I do. And I know you love me. But I can't be here. This isn't working."

"My life won't work without you."

She stepped back and smiled sadly. "Yes, it does. You know it does. And it will. Your life is Casey. Be happy with him. Make him happy. We can't make each other happy, Henry."

She finished packing and hugged him. "I'll miss you. Always."

"Don't go," he whispered.

She cried harder. "I have to."

"Let me take you to the airport."

She looked up at him. "I think it's best if I take a cab. It's waiting downstairs."

They said goodbye and he watched her leave. He went into their bedroom and stared out into the silent room. On the chest of drawers, he saw a small box. It was the earrings he had given her. There was a note underneath it.

_Go find your happiness, Henry. You deserve it._

_With love always,_

_Betty_

He lay on the bed, the note in his hands, and cried.

………………………………………

A few hours later, she was in an airplane headed to New York. She thought about the smiling faces of her family and friends that she would see soon. She hadn't realized how much she truly had missed them. She was also excited to get back to Mode. She wanted to pursue her dream and Mode was exactly where she wanted to do that.

As the plane flew over state by state by state, she could feel a giant weight fall from her shoulders. Relief flooded over her and reduced her to tears.

Betty Suarez was coming home.

TBC


	13. Reunion

Chapter 13

Hilda was lying on top of Daniel in his apartment. Her shirt was off, but her tight jeans and black bra were still on. His legs were open wide so that she could fit snuggly between them. She was playing with the buttons of his shirt as she kissed his neck.

"Do you need to get back home soon?" Daniel muttered quietly, his head tilting back as a response to her tongue swiping beneath his ear.

"Ay, no. They all think I'm at a hair seminar. They don't expect me back for two hours." She smiled at him devilishly. "But don't mess my hair up too much."

He ran his hands up her back slowly. "How long are we going to be able to keep this from Ignacio and Justin?"

She unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. "We've done it for a month now."

His eyes drifted to the ceiling. "But your family is like super sleuths."

"They are nosy," she chuckled.

"I just think your dad is going to kill me if he finds out we've been lying to everyone."

She looked him in the eyes. "I want to wait until Betty comes to visit. I don't want to tell her this over the phone." She rubbed her hips into his, smiling. "Besides, we're just having fun, right?"

Pulling her close to him so that she couldn't see his disappointed face, he said, "Sure." He flipped her around so that he was lying on top of her now. "If we've only got a couple of hours, we better stop talking."

She giggled and brushed her hand across his forehead and cheek. "You are such a bad boy."

He was about to respond when her cell phone buzzed. "I better get it," she said. "It could be Justin." Reaching over, she looked at what was a text message. "It was Justin! Betty's on a plane home!" She sat up and looked at him excitedly. "She's coming home, Daniel. For good."

He jumped off the bed, surprised by how ecstatic he was. "I'll call for a car."

Putting her shirt back on, she said, "No, we've got to meet in separate cars! They'll know if we come together."

He turned away from her and walked away to get his shoes. "Wouldn't want that," he mumbled to himself.

"I'll take my car and you can meet us at home in a couple of hours, okay?" she said as she scurried to leave.

He opened the front door for her and kissed her quickly across the mouth, causing a _smack_. "I'll see you then."

Hurriedly, she said over her shoulder, "Okay, bye."

…………………………………**.**

Daniel had gone to the Suarez house and several hours later they were all waiting at the airport. When they saw a mop of black hair bobbing through the crowd, Justin cried, "It's Betty! That's Aunt Betty!"

They rushed the gate entrance and froze as they saw her. She looked tired and frazzled. They looked at her and she at them. Instantly the tears flowed as Ignacio swept her into his arm. "Oh, mija. How I've missed you," he said softly into her ear.

She could barely breathe. "I've missed you so much." She looked at the rest of her family and at Daniel. "I've missed you all."

Justin and Hilda ran up to her then and they shared a group hug. "Ay, Betty, you can never leave again!" Hilda cried.

Betty laughed on a sob, saying, "I promise."

Hilda looked back and saw Daniel standing behind them awkwardly, smiling. Sighing, she said, "Ven aca ahora. Come on." She pulled him into the group and there they all stood hugging and crying in the middle of the New York airport.

They headed home soon after. During the car ride, Betty told them of all of the nice things she had seen in Tucson while Justin told her about the part in the school play he had landed and how many clients Hilda had now.

"I called Christina, Aunt Betty, and told her you were coming home."

Betty nodded. "That's good, Justin. Thank you."

Hilda butted in. "She wanted to come but she was too sick from her pregnancy. She said for you to call her as soon as you got settled."

She smiled. "Okay, I will." She looked over her shoulder to the backseat. "And how's Daniel?" she asked him.

Daniel smiled. "I'm thrilled to have my assistant back."

"What about Amanda?"

He rolled his eyes. "Amanda said she no longer had enough 'me' time and quit about three weeks ago. She's the receptionist again. I've had a temp ever since."

Betty looked at him curiously. "Does this mean I have a job again?"

He smiled. "Of course it does."

"Thank you, Daniel." There was a quiet pause in the car. After a few moments, quietly and as casually as she could, Betty said, "So how's Gio?"

Hilda and Daniel glanced at each other in the backseat. But Ignacio was the one to answer first. "He hasn't been around, mija. And we haven't gone to see him."

"I haven't seen him either, Betty," Daniel said. "He sends another employee to deliver sandwiches to Mode now."

Betty looked out the window. "I have a lot of catching up to do with everyone, don't I?"

"We've missed a lot with you, too, Betty," Hilda said.

"Yeah," Justin piped in. "We didn't get to celebrate your birthday."

"Who says we can't?" Daniel asked.

"What?" Betty asked.

"He's right, Betty," Hilda said excitedly. "We can have a party and everything."

"I'd be more than happy to throw it," Daniel added.

Hilda's eyes darted to his. She didn't seem to like the idea. "You would?"

He shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Justin's jaw dropped. "It _has _to be at the hottest restaurant in New York!"

Betty shook her head. "No, I'd rather just have a small party at home. I'm not really up for a lot of people yet."

"Then home it is," Ignacio said. "How about next Friday?"

She smiled a little at her father. "That sounds good."

……………………………………**..**

A few hours later, Betty was in her room getting ready for bed. She looked into the mirror as she brushed her hair. She wasn't sure if she was happy with what she saw staring back at her or disappointed. It felt like a bit of both.

Hilda had been walking by but stopped and rested her shoulder on the door frame. "So how are you really?"

"I'm fine," Betty mustered to say as she looked at Hilda through the mirror, refusing to turn around and directly look at her.

"I'm your sister, Betty. I know that's crap."

Betty got a lump in her throat. Barely above a whisper, she said, "I know I did the right thing coming home."

"But?"

Betty took a deep breath and said, "But I already miss what I had with Henry. What if that is the last time I ever feel that way?"

Hilda walked into the room and put her hands on her sister's shoulders. Looking at her through the mirror, Hilda said, "You're only 24. Believe me, you'll find someone when you least expect it. And with the last person you ever thought you would."

Betty turned to face her now with a twitch of a smile and furrowed eyebrows. "Hilda, are you seeing someone?"

Hilda scoffed and made a large gesture of lifting her shoulders. "Me? No! But I know it can happen. If that tramp Gina Gambaro can marry a successful doctor, you can surely find someone."

Betty's eyebrows shot up. "Gina Gambaro got married? To a doctor? I've missed this much in two months?"

Hilda hugged her. "This is why you can't leave us again."

Betty squeezed her back. "I love you, Hilda."

"I love you, too. And someone else will someday, too."

………………………………………**.. **

The next day, Betty had taken the time to unpack her things and put them back into their rightful spots in her room. She went over to Christina's and talked to her for hours. Then she had gone home and eaten supper with her family. Afterwards, she had grabbed her purse and was headed out the door. Before she had time to leave, her father stopped her and asked, "Where are you going, mija?"

"I thought I'd go see Gio and tell him I was back in town."

Ignacio feigned disinterest. "That's nice."

She nodded. "I'm going to see if he wants to come to the party Friday."

He looked at her earnestly. "You hurt him pretty badly, Betty. Don't expect too much."

Slightly defensively, she said, "It's just an invitation to my party. That's all. He can take it or leave it."

She got on the subway and headed for Gio's Deli. Once she was there, Betty took a deep breath and walked through the door. She had purposefully come late, hoping that there were few people in Gio's deli.

Without looking up, Gio said, "We're about to close, so you'll have to get your order to go."

"Does forgiveness come in To-Go bags?"

His head whipped up. He hadn't seen her in months. He didn't think he would again. "Depends. Are you ordering it with chips?"

She walked up to him and stood across the counter from him. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for the way I treated you a few months ago."

He looked at her in silence, searching her face. "Okay."

She took in a sharp breath, surprised by his blunt answer. "That's it?"

Shrugging, he said, "You were having relationship problems. I'm not going to hold it against you forever."

She smiled. She never thought it would be that easy, especially with Gio. "I'm back home now. Tucson didn't really work out."

"Oh?" He looked back down and began putting up the condiments.

She followed him down the counter. "Yeah, I moved back with my dad and I start work again on Monday."

"Daniel will be happy to have you. It didn't seem like he could function without you."

She chuckled. "Well, he's done all right without me for two months." She was trying to peak his interest without coming out and saying so, but she was starting to squirm from not being able to.

"So I'm trying to reconnect with my friends and I was wondering if you'd want to go to my birthday party next Friday."

He quickly glanced up. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

She flinched. "Oh, well—"

Betty was interrupted by a petite brunette coming into the room from the back. "Gio, where did you put the extra paprika?"

He turned to look at her. "It should be labeled in the back."

Betty smiled at them. "Hey, are you the new employee?"

Before he could say anything, the woman came up to greet her and said, "No. I'm the new girlfriend." She stuck her hand out with a warm smile. "I'm Dulce."

Betty looked from Gio to Dulce and saw his familiarity with Dulce and his awkwardness with her. Blinking herself back into focus, she stuck out her hand and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize he was dating. I'm Betty."

Dulce perked up. "That's right," she said, recognizing her. "We sort of met in that bar a few months ago."

She nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

"I should thank you."

Betty's forehead wrinkled. "Why?"

Dulce tugged on Gio's earlobe, making him smile. "If you wouldn't have asked him to pick up women for you, I would never have met him."

Betty's heart instantly sank into disappointment. Trying to hide it, she said, "You're welcome." She looked over at Gio and said, "Well, I better get home. I haven't seen my family in ages."

Gio smiled softly at her. "It was nice to see you again, Betty."

She nodded, choking back tears she couldn't explain why she had. "Yeah, you, too." She turned and strode to the door and out of it as quickly as possible.

Dulce lifted herself on top of the counter. "I thought she was in Arizona."

His eyes dropped down to her butt. "I'm going to have to clean that station again now."

"I'll clean it," she said. "Why did she come back? To visit?"

He shook his head as he wiped off the other side of the counter. "She and Henry broke up. She's back for good."

"How do you feel about that?"

His hand stopped moving. Looking up at her, he said, "I'm glad she's away from Henry and that she's back with her family."

"Anything else?"

"Why? Are you jealous?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

She matched eyebrow for eyebrow. "Should I be?"

He looked her straight in the eye with all truthfulness. "No."

She could see the honesty in his eyes. She kissed him on the forehead. As she pulled away from him, she pulled her hair back and put it into a ponytail and asked, "So why did she come here? Has she realized she made a grave mistake leaving you behind?"

He gave her a cocky smile. "Are you teasing me?"

Her eyes shone playfully but she answered truthfully, saying, "That's how I'd feel if I was her."

Coming around the counter, he wrapped his arms around her hips. "Well, then you lucked out, Miss Dulce, because I'm right here."

She whispered, "Oh, then I better take full advantage of this opportunity." They kissed for a few long moments. Then she rested her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "She looked pretty upset, Gio. I don't think she's come back on the best terms."

He looked down in thought. "I doubt she did. She won't get over Henry for a while."

She rubbed his shaved head. "Then maybe we should be there for her."

"What?" he asked, his forehead scrunching together.

She tilted her head. "I trust you. And if she's as unhappy as she looks, she could use everyone she knows to be on her side."

He stroked her cheek. "You are something."

She smiled. "Well, I try." Twirling her two fingers over the tops of his ear, she said, "You should tell her tomorrow that we'll be at her party."

"I'll let her know," he said. He swatted her on the butt playfully. "Now get down so I can wipe this counter off again and we can get some food."

"How do chocolate covered strawberries sound?"

He smiled. "You are a genius."

……………………………………**.**

The next day, Betty was lying in bed half-asleep. Drool was leaking from her mouth and sticking to her pillow. It was late in the morning, but her body felt too heavy to wake up. She wasn't ready to meet the world yet.

But Hilda had different plans as she walked into Betty's room and shook her. "Betty, get up. You need to wake up."

She waved her away and pulled the blankets up, saying, "Go away, Hilda. I just want to sleep."

"So do you really want me to tell Gio to go away?"

Betty's eyes shot open. Her body sprang up. "Gio?"

Hilda nodded. "Si! Now get your butt up and see what he wants!"

Struggling to take off her headgear, she stumbled out of bed, tripping over her own feet. "How do I look?"

Hilda gave her a quick once-over. Her hair was matted to the side of her hair, reminiscent of a rat's nest. Dried drool was flaking from her cheek. Her pajamas were wrinkled and clinging to her body. Hilda made a face and said, "I'll go stall him."

Betty rolled her eyes and then rushed to her chest of drawers. She brushed her hair quickly, but some of the strands just would not fall in place. She wiped her face with her robe and then changed her clothes. Running downstairs, she tried to slow her feet as soon as she saw Gio standing in the foyer.

Gio saw her messy clothes and the hair frizzing from her head and looked down to utter a chuckle, but said no more. When he looked back up, he said, "Hi."

"Hi," she responded, holding her breath in expectation.

Shaking his car keys in his hand to have something to do, he said, "I wanted to apologize for yesterday."

She blinked and stuttered, "You, you didn't have to do that."

He raised his hand to tell her to stop. "No, I did. I was just so surprised to see you yesterday. I never thought I'd see you again."

She looked into his eyes. "Neither did I."

"And I'm glad that you came home."

She gave him a small smile. "I'm glad to be home."

He clasped his hands together and said, "I was hoping that if that birthday invitation was still good—"

Her hands flew up as her eyes got big. She said, "Yes, yeah, you're totally invited!"

He smiled warmly. "Good. We'll see you Friday."

She tilted her head. "We?"

Giving her a strange look, he said, "Yeah, me and Dulce. It's okay if she comes, right?"

She tried to hide her disappointment. "Of course. She seems really cool."

He just nodded and said, "Okay, we'll see you then."

She opened the door for him. "The party is here at 7:00."

Stepping out of the house, he said, "We'll be here—if you want us here or not."

Before her mind could advise against it, she said, "I want you here."

He paused awkwardly and looked at her. Then he gave her a sincere smile and said, "Goodbye, Betty."

She tried to smile back. "Goodbye, Gio. And thanks."

He just waved and got into his van. Shutting the door, she turned around and saw her sister standing impatiently in front of her. "So?" Hilda said.

Betty looked down at the floor thoughtfully. "He seems happy."

Hilda stepped closer. "That's a good thing, right?"

Betty glanced at her sister. "He's happy with his girlfriend."

Hilda's shoulders slumped a little, but she said, "Well, he was only just a friend anyway, right?"

Betty started to head back upstairs. She wanted to go back to sleep. Without looking back at Hilda, she mumbled, "Right. Just a friend."

TBC


	14. The Party

Chapter 14

Betty hurried downstairs. "It's almost time for the party, Hilda," she said. "Can I come down now?"

"Ay, chica, si," her sister said with exasperation. "You are so impatient."

Betty smiled cheekily. "It's my birthday party. I'm supposed to be excited."

Hilda hugged her. "And you should be, hermana. Happy birthday."

Christina arrived, then Daniel. All who was left was Dulce and Gio. When Betty heard a knock at the door, she rushed to the foyer. She opened the door with a smile that soon faded as she saw who was standing there. "Marc. Amanda. What are you doing here?"

Amanda walked right through. "Christina told us that your pappy was making flan for this." With a perfectly arched eyebrow, she said, "It's really delicious you know."

Betty nodded. "Yeah, I eat them, too. And it's _papi._"

Amanda's face scrunched apathetically. "Whatever. Do I look bilingual?"

Marc let her take his arm. "No," he said, "but you look _bi_-something."

She scoffed. "Not tonight. There's not a guy or girl I would make out with here for the entire season's collection of Monolos." She saw Marc's wounded expression and shrugged. "Except for you."

Betty watched them walk into the room, completely ignoring her. She waved at them and said, "Have fun. Try not to get drunk and flirty."

Betty, who had not closed the front door yet, jumped when she heard, "Well, we'll try not to, but I can't promise you that I won't get drunk and hit on your dad. He's a very graceful man."

Betty's head whipped around until she was looking at Gio and Dulce. Holding hands. "Gio, hey, thanks for coming." She swallowed. "It's nice to see you again, Dulce."

Dulce smiled. "Likewise. And happy birthday." She looked at the decorations as she said, "So what are you, like 30?"

Gio saw Betty's incredulous face. He chuckled softly. "Betty's 24."

Dulce's face got close to Gio's. "You better know how old I am," she said flirtatiously.

Gio squeezed her hand. "Of course I do. You're 26."

Dulce squinted at him. "When's my birthday?"

He raised his eyebrows. "When's mine?"

Without missing a beat, she said, "January 4. You're still not off the hook."

Gio eyed Betty and then looked at Dulce playfully. "I'm going to have to get back to you on that."

She pointed at him. "You can't call my mother and ask."

Gio turned his face from her. "I wasn't going to do that."

"Good."

"I was going to wait 'til you fall asleep and look at your driver's license."

Dulce slapped him on the shoulder. "How did I find a guy so sneaky?"

Betty, tired of being left out of every conversation said, "All that sandwich-making comes in handy for so many skills."

He tilted his head. "You two mock but it really does."

Dulce rubbed his shaved head. "Now all you need is people skills."

He smiled. "Oh, you're funny."

"I think so."

Betty watched their arms brush against each other and nearly shuddered.

As if sensing her tension, Gio turned and asked, "How's your job coming, Betty?"

Finally she got excited and jumped a little on the balls of her feet. "It's really nice to be Daniel's assistant again."

"Have you been writing?"

Betty looked away from him. "Not for a while." Then she looked into his eyes for a brief few seconds and said quietly, "But I will."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Good. You should follow your dream, Betty." He put his other arm around Dulce and started to lead her away. "Thanks for inviting us."

She smiled a little. "Thanks for coming."

Christina noticed that Betty was watching Dulce and Gio and decided to walk over to her. "So are we supposed to hate her?"

"Dulce?" Betty asked with a furrowed brow. "No? Why should we?"

Christina frowned. "Well, she is dating that gorgeous man."

Betty rolled her eyes. "It's Gio, Christina. Dulce is welcome to him."

"Are you sure?"

Betty bobbled her head up and down. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Christina leaned towards her to whisper, "You're done with Henry now. And you used to talk a lot about Gio before you left for Tucson."

Betty looked at her pointedly. "Gio is a friend. I'm trying to get over Henry. I don't want to think about anyone else."

Christina raised her hands in defense. "Okay, I guess I'm just a crazy pregnant lady."

Betty laughed. "I think you are."

Christina started to look around, asking, "Where is your father with the food? I'm starving!"

On the other side of the room, Hilda and Daniel were standing close to each other, pretending to laugh and joke about something. With a fake smile, Daniel asked, "Are you coming over later?"

"I don't think I can get away tonight. I'll have to help clean up for the party," she said, her feigned smile plastered on her face.

Daniel broke the pretense and flashed puppy dog eyes at her. "I can hire a cleaning service to take care of this."

Hilda laughed. "You aren't in that much need. I'll be by tomorrow."

He stepped a hair closer to her. "Will you meet me at my apartment for lunch?"

She batted her eyelashes. "I think I can do that."

Dulce had been watching the scene from several feet away, not hearing the conversation. As she sat down next to Gio at the table, she asked, "Those two are totally sleeping together aren't they?"

Without flinching, Gio said, "Most definitely."

"Do you think anyone knows?"

He glanced around at the people in the room. "Doesn't look likely."

She shook her head. "Why are people so clueless?"

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Probably because we're all too busy with our own problems to see what's right in front of us."

She put her hand on his thigh. "Do you think we can't see what's right in front of us?"

He turned his head to look at her, confused by her question. He smiled. "I don't know. It is kind of dark in here."

She squeezed his leg. "And there goes the sincerity."

He tilted his head, saying, "It can only last so long."

Betty came up to them with a bowl of pasta and put it on the table. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked perkily.

"Whether or not _Of Mice and Men _is the great American novel," Gio said earnestly.

Dulce laughed, surprised at the teasing lie. "And you think it is?" she asked, playing along.

He nodded. "C'mon, that book has everything about Americana in it: the Great Depression, trying to accomplish your goals, friendship, love, apathy."

Now Dulce was interested. "But it's also got a cop-out shock ending that doesn't really tell the reader anything."

Shifting in his seat, he said, "It's supposed to be shocking. Steinbeck's trying to say that there is no American Dream—just reality."

Betty stared at him incredulously. "You've read _Of Mice and Men_?"

Gio stared back. "I love John Steinbeck. I've read everything he's ever written."

The words stung at her. They were an echo of what she had told Henry about Gio reading the dating books. "Oh," she said quietly.

He smiled. "When are you going to realize that I actually read more than cookbooks?"

She smiled back apologetically. "I'll know from now on. I promise."

He leaned towards the table and said mischievously, "Maybe you should stop making promises. They seem to get you into trouble."

"That's probably good advice," she said, laughing softly. "I better go get the tortillas."

Dulce watched her walk away in silence. A few minutes later Betty came back out of the kitchen with a plate of tortillas and put them on the table. She smiled sheepishly, almost reflexively at Gio and then walked away again. Dulce saw that she was headed towards the foyer by herself, so she got up and followed her. "Are you having a happy birthday?" she asked in a friendly voice.

Betty spun around to face her. "Uh, yeah, I wasn't expecting to be home for my birthday, but it's been nice."

Dulce smiled. "You have a really nice family."

Betty tried to smile back at her. "Thanks."

"You're friends seem great, too." When Betty nodded, Dulce continued, saying, "Gio really cares about you, too."

She blinked a few times and started to stammer, saying, "He's a great guy. He's been a really good friend."

Dulce, coolly and nonchalantly, said, "He's also told me about your last boyfriend and how you started dating him."

Betty squirmed uncomfortably. "Um, well—"

Dulce looked her in the eyes. "I just wanted to tell you that I think Gio should be there for you as a friend. He values your friendship and I know you could use that right now. But if something were to happen, you and I would have a few words."

Anger, embarrassment, and irrational guilt twisted in her stomach. "Gio's just a friend."

Dulce gave her a quick smile. "Good. Happy birthday again." Then she went back over to Gio and rubbed her hand on the back of his neck. He looked up at her and grinned.

Betty felt like she had been hit with a shovel. Taking a deep breath, she headed back for the kitchen and helped her father set out the rest of the food. About ten minutes later, they were all sitting around the table eating.

Daniel raised his glass and said, "I want to make a toast really fast." Everyone looked up and raised their glasses as well. He continued, saying, "I can speak for everyone when I say that we are thrilled you are back. Our world just isn't the same without you, Betty. Happy birthday."

Everyone followed by saying, "Happy birthday!" They drank from their glasses and continued to eat.

Dulce was sitting next to Hilda, watching her talk to Justin. When Hilda stopped talking, Dulce said, "How do you handle being a mom? It looks exhausting."

Hilda laughed. "It gets better once they can feed and dress themselves. Now I just have to worry about whether he's redecorated my salon when I'm sleeping."

Justin put a finger up. "Mom, I've told you that it would look much better if you had a leather couch in there. When are you going to listen to my fabulousness?"

Hilda chuckled lovingly and ran her hand through his hair. "See what I mean?" she asked Dulce.

She shook her head. "I just don't see how you do it."

Gio leaned towards her. "What are you talking about, D? You're going to be a great mom."

She let out a loud laugh. "No, I'm not."

Gio nudged her with his shoulder. "Yeah, you are. It just seems scary now."

She looked over at him seriously. "No, Gio. I'm not. I'm not planning to have kids."

His forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Ever?"

"It's not likely, no."

Everyone got quiet while they listened to the conversation. When Gio and Dulce noticed that they were causing a scene, they shut up and started eating.

Amanda leaned over to Marc. "That was deliciously awkward."

Marc whispered into her ear, saying, "I know. It's like watching Mexican day on the Jerry Springer show."

After dinner was over, they all got up and went back to their original positions of discussion. Betty stood alone as Ignacio cleared the table, refusing to let her help him. Gio and Dulce were talking to Christina on the couch while Daniel, Hilda, and Justin excitedly discussed something in the corner of the room. Marc and Amanda had left immediately after Amanda had finished her flan. Betty once again felt smacked upside the head with a shovel. She had come home to be with her family and friends and now she felt more alone than ever.

She rushed to the bathroom. No one had noticed her leave. She opened the door, went inside, and closed the door behind her. As she started to cry, she thought she had locked the door but the latch didn't turn all the way.

…………………………**.. **

Gio put his hand on Dulce's arm. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

He stood up. "I'll go get our jackets." He walked over to the foyer to pick them up but decided that he better go to the bathroom before they left. Remembering where it was from that day he had fixed Hilda's salon sink, he headed towards it. He twisted the knob and opened the door. When he saw Betty standing there, his first reaction was shock and embarrassment. "Damn, I'm sorry, Betty," he said and quickly shut the door, not giving her a chance to say anything. But as he reflected on what he had seen, he realized that she was crying. Opening the door again, he asked, "Betty, are you okay?"

She shook her head and turned from him. "Gio, just go away."

"Nah, I can't do that." He shut the door, locked it, and walked further into the room. "What's wrong?"

Her head drooped, her back still to him. "I was wrong. I thought that I could come back and everything would be okay."

"Betty, that's pretty naïve."

The breath left her lungs. "Gio, I don't need to hear that right now."

He stood his ground. "No, I think you do. You completely uprooted your life two months ago. And now you've uprooted it again. You affected a lot of people when you did that."

She struggled not to sob. "What's your point?"

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "You have to give everyone time, Betty. They love you and are so excited that you're home. You have to see that. But you've all been apart for a long time. You have to give yourself time, too"

It stung that he had used the word _they_ instead of _we. _But she conceded his point and said, "I know. But it just hurts so much. It's so hard."

Hating to hear her cry, he put his hand on her shoulder. The act made her turn around. Instinctively, they came together in a hug. "It's going to be okay. It will get easier," he said reassuringly.

He let her cry into the crook of his shoulder for what felt like hours. She let out all of the stress, pain, grief, and worry that had plagued her since she had moved away two months ago. But through all of the tears, she could feel it in his hug. He was holding her in arms that were friendly and kind. There was nothing more in the hug. He was comforting a friend and he would be leaving with his girlfriend. That thought inexplicably made her cry harder.

Once she was finished crying, he tipped her head up to look at him. With a soft smile, he asked, "Do you think you'll be okay now?"

She nodded. "Yeah, thank you, Gio."

He stepped back from her and pulled some toilet paper from the roll. "I'm your friend. You don't need to thank me for being here." Handing her the sheets, he said, "Take a deep breath, clean off your face, and have a good birthday. Okay?"

She laughed. "How do you make everything simple?"

He opened the door. "Because it is simple. _We _just make everything so difficult." They looked at each other one more time before he said, "Good night, Betty. I'll see you soon."

"Good night, Gio."

He walked out and shut the door. She looked at herself in the mirror and wiped her face. She hoped that someday, she'd stop making things so difficult.

…………………………………

Gio grabbed the jackets and went to Dulce, handing her the jacket.

"Why'd it take you so long? Is everything okay?"

He gave her a weary look. "I'll tell you later."

She put her hand on his chest and started to smile, but then felt that the cotton was wet. She looked at him inquisitively.

He gave her another look. "Later." Once they got into his van, he told her what had happened. "She just needed a shoulder to cry on and I was there."

She gave him a sideways glance. "I think she thinks more of you than that."

He took her hand. "But I don't."

"I know. That's why I trust you," she said, rubbing her thumb against his finger.

As he drove her back to her apartment, he asked, "Were you serious about not wanting kids?"

She sighed. "Yeah."

"And you know that I want kids? Several of them?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I do now."

His voice became tense. "I think we should talk about that."

She waved her hand. "Not tonight."

"Why not?"

"Because we're going to get into a fight about it and I don't want to do that yet."

His face scrunched. "How do you know we'll fight?"

"Are you willing to change your mind about children? No, and neither am I. So let's just shelve that conversation for a few days okay?"

"Okay." He pulled up in front of her building. "But only for a few days. This is important, Dulce."

"I know." She started to open the van door but when she saw that he made no move to do the same, she asked, "Are you coming up?"

He shook his head. "It's been a rough day. I think I'm just going to go to bed."

She reached over the seats and kissed him. "I need to get up early tomorrow anyway."

He ran his fingers through her soft hair. "I'll call you tomorrow."

She acknowledged the offer, got out of the car, and shut the door. She waved at him before she went inside.

He waited until she was in the building and he saw the light go on in her apartment before he drove away. Tonight had not gone like he thought at all. He was worried for Betty. She was not readjusting well and he hoped that she would get back on track soon. But what really invaded his thoughts was Dulce. He cared so much about her. He was beginning to think about having a future with her. He had thought they were so alike. And on most things they were, but tonight proved that they didn't agree on everything.

If they didn't agree on children, what else did they disagree about?

TBC


	15. In Front of Your Face

Chapter 15

Hilda was putting her shirt back on when the phone rang. She pretended not to be listening as Daniel picked it up and said, "Hello?...Hi, Christy. How are you?...That's nice…Uh, no, I can't do that…I'm sorry. I've got other plans…It was nice to hear from you."

She stood up and buttoned her jeans. "So, Christy. That's such a delightful name."

Daniel gave her a look. "She doesn't mean anything. I told her I was preoccupied," he said, grinning at her as he made a move to grab her.

She side-stepped him. "Why blow her off, Daniel? We're just having fun, right? If you have other plans, you should go do them."

He shook his head. "I don't want other plans, Hilda."

She looked at him with doubt and confusion. "Maybe you should, Daniel. We've got nothing here. Not really."

He was more hurt by her words than he realized he could be. He wasn't able to say anything as he watched her pick up her purse and leave.

She stopped just before she opened the door and called out, "I'll see you in a few days." Then she left, shutting the door behind her. She had known that Daniel was a player when she started seeing him five weeks ago, but she wasn't prepared to hear about the other women just yet. It made her feel too guilty. She should be looking for a good father to Justin. Instead she was foolishly throwing herself on the biggest millionaire manwhore in New York with no option for a future. She also didn't want to admit that hearing Daniel talk to that woman made her jealous. She wasn't supposed to be jealous. They were having fun. They were relieving loneliness. They weren't serious. It still bothered her that it happened, though.

But she knew she would be at his doorstep within days anyway.

…………………………………

Gio sat on Dulce's kitchen stool, his legs spread wide and his feet resting on the brace between the legs of the stool. "Are you ready for this conversation?"

She took a sip of her coffee and rested against the counter. "Not really, but we need to have it anyway."

They had been dating for about three months. Gio thought it was time to figure out their mutual plans before it went farther. "You never want to have children?"

She set down her cup. "No. I watched my mom struggle to raise us and I don't ever want to burden a child."

"But who says you're going to burden it?"

She looked up towards the ceiling in thought. "It's not just that, Gio. I have plans. I want to own my own five-star restaurant in LA by the time I'm 35. I don't have time to think about kids, let alone have them."

He nearly fell over. "LA? As in Los Angeles?"

Sighing, she said, "I suppose you want to stay here forever."

He nodded in a large gesture. "Yeah, most of my family is here. My two brothers are in Florida. I don't want to leave the East Coast."

She shook her head in disappointment. "I love New York, but my dream has always been to own a big Hollywood-esque restaurant. I won't give up that plan."

He looked down at the coffee in his own cup. "If you want to do that in nine years, you're going to be moving soon, aren't you?"

Quietly, she said, "Within the next year."

His deep brown eyes ached as they looked into hers. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Forcefully, she said, "I'm telling you now."

He felt like the rug had just been ripped from beneath his feet. "I was planning to ask you to move in with me."

She put her hand on his. "I still can."

He squinted, wanting a truthful answer. "You'd want to live with me even though you're going to move away and have a completely different life?"

She breathed in deeply. "It's not a great situation, but it could work. We really like each other, Gio. Why should we give that up?"

He looked at her incredulously. "Even though we don't want any of the same things?"

She shrugged. "We could make the most out of the time we have together."

"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" he asked, shaking his head.

She threw her hands up. "Do you have a better idea?"

He bent his head down and rubbed his scalp hard with both hands. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Sure." She came around the counter and kissed him. "Just let me know soon, okay?"

He nodded and said "yeah" under his breath. As he left the apartment and headed for the exit, he felt so empty. Just two days ago, he had thought he had a future with this woman. And now she seemed like the last woman that he should be with logically. But he still cared so much for her.

He wondered, though, why they _hadn't _fought. In three months, they never had really fought besides bickering at each other sometimes. Was the passion not there like he had thought it was? Had he confused feelings and passion? He wanted to be with her but he wasn't sure if he should stay with her.

If he didn't hurry to work, he'd be late and his uncle Andre would never let him hear the end of it. He got in his van and sped off. He parked in the back of the building, got out, and unlocked the back door to let himself in. The backroom sounded still. He assumed that he had beat Andre there.

"You're late, sobrinito."

Gio jumped nearly out of his skin. "You're not supposed to give the boss a heart attack."

Andre folded his arms in front of him and smiled cockily. "And the boss isn't supposed to be having morning sex so late that he's not ready for work."

He looked at his uncle from the corner of his eye. "I wasn't having morning sex," he mumbled.

An eyebrow shot up. "Oh? Then why is my normally organized nephew looking like a mess?"

Gio rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. "You're not going to let this one go, are you?"

"When do I ever let anything go? It's not in our genes, mijo."

"I want kids. Dulce doesn't. And she's moving to LA by next year."

Andre rang the rag in his hands. "So, you two broke up?"

He shook his head. "No, she thinks we should keep dating until she leaves."

Andre scoffed. "Do you really want to do that?"

Gio pulled out his apron and put it on. "No."

Andre shrugged, saying, "Then you've got your answer."

"But I want to be with her, Tio."

Andre eyed him, saying, "It doesn't sound like you, Gio. A few years ago, you would have already told her what you thought as soon as she asked you."

"But this girl is important."

Andre pointed at him. "Then you better make a decision soon."

Andre left, leaving Gio in the workroom. He knew it wasn't like him to even be contemplating this, but he had had a rough year with women this year and he wanted this to work. He liked her and she liked him. That should be worth something. But as he stood there in the silence, he knew his good sense wouldn't even let him think of this as a possibility.

…………………………………………

Betty was typing a memo at her desk when Daniel walked by. He looked tired; there were dark purple circles underneath his eyes. His hair was unkempt and his clothes didn't match. They also weren't the clothes he had been wearing before lunch. Putting her hands on her desk, she pushed herself up from her seat and went into his office. "Daniel, is there anything you need?"

He dragged his eyes towards her. "No, Betty, thank you."

She held her memo pad close to her chest and said, "I'm worried about you. You've got that look."

"What look?" he asked, staring at her blankly.

She looked at him sadly. "That you've made a bad decision and don't know what to do."

His face pained. It freaked him out how she always knew when he was going through something, but it wasn't the right time to tell her. "No, life is fine, Betty. Thanks for caring."

She smiled at him. "Good. I was afraid that some woman was driving you crazy again."

He paled then laughed nervously. "What? No, there's no woman here. I'm woman free. I don't have woman problems."

"Okay," she said, eyeing him curiously.

Changing the topic, he said, "I hope you had a good birthday."

She became more pensive and said, "Yeah, it was nice. Thank you for the party."

Daniel's brow furrowed. "I was surprised Gio brought someone. I didn't know he was dating someone."

"Oh, yeah," she stammered. "Her name's Dulce."

Daniel searched her face as he said, "They didn't seem to be getting along, though."

Her head bobbled up and down, saying, "Oh, I don't think so. I didn't notice anything."

He twirled the pen in his hand. "They looked like they were about to have a fight."

"I really need to go work now," she said, backing away from his desk. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

He shook his head. "I'm okay, Betty. It's a Saturday. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

She smiled. "Thank you!" she cried and hurried to her desk to get her stuff. She loved that she was working at Mode again, but after her party the night before, she did not feel like being there. There was too much on her mind.

She still missed Henry. He had been such a huge part of her life that something felt missing now. And the memory of how alone she felt last night still haunted her. But so did the hug with Gio. He had comforted her so unabashedly. To know that someone was there really helped. She was grateful for him. And now she felt guilty that he had not let her thank him. She had lied to Daniel about noticing the disagreement. She wondered if he and Dulce were as strong as they seemed.

She decided that before she went home, she would stop by his deli.

By the time she got there, it was closed for the afternoon. Dejected, her shoulders slumped at the thought she missed him. She turned around and looked out at the street in front of her. Her phone vibrated in her purse. Pulling it out, she said, "Hello?"

"What are you doing here?"

She spun around and saw Gio standing behind the window, cell phone in his hand, grinning. He was clearly amused. She looked down and laughed softly. Putting her cell phone away, she waited for him to unlock the door and let her in. When he did, she said, "I'm glad you're still here."

He shut the door and turned to face her. "What's up?"

She waved her hands anxiously, saying, "I just wanted to thank you—"

He shook his head. "I told you that you didn't have to do that."

"No, I do. I haven't been a very good friend to you and you were there for me last night." She looked away and said quietly, "I wish I could have been that person for you."

His heart dropped. He could use that person right now. But instead of saying anything, he said, "You've been the best friend you could be. That's all you've got to worry about."

She took in the words, but his empathy made her feel even guiltier. In silence, she studied his face. She noticed that his eyes looked red, that he was jumpy and anxious. "Gio, are you okay?"

Shifting back his shoulders arrogantly, he said, "Yeah, don't I look it?"

"No, not really. Did something happen with you and Dulce?"

His throat tightened. "Was our implosion at your house too subtle?"

She tilted her head sympathetically. She didn't want him to be glib. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Taking a deep breath, he waited a few moments before nodding. He walked over to a table and turned over two chairs so that they could sit in them. His uncle had already left for the day. As they sat down next to each other, they were enveloped by the stillness in the room. He told her what had transpired in the past two days. Finally he said, "We don't want the same things. But we want to be together. I don't know if I can let that go."

After listening intently, she looked up at him. "What did you say the first time I told you that I was dating Henry?"

He looked away. "That you were being stupid."

With more fervency, she said, "And you were right, Gio. All seven months of being with Henry, I only gave myself pain. I love him and I still do, but it wasn't worth it."

"So you think I should break up with Dulce?"

She shrugged. "It depends. Do you think you have a future with her?"

…………………………………………**.. **

Dulce rushed to the door when she heard someone knock. Her heart nearly jumped from her chest when she saw it was Gio. She went to hug him until she saw his face. She knew. "This isn't going to work is it?"

Tears threatened to sting his eyes. "Can I come in?"

She held onto the door with one hand and had her other hand on the doorjamb. "What for? You've already told me what your answer is."

He winced. "You've always been able to read my face."

She shook her head sadly. "Gio, could you just hold me for a while?"

In that quiet, rough voice, he said, "Yeah, that would be nice." He pulled her close and they hugged, standing in the doorway, until they both felt as though they had said goodbye.

When he finally pulled away, he kissed her on the forehead. "Keep in touch, okay?"

She wiped a tear from her cheek. "Yeah, you, too."

He squeezed her hand one last time and then walked away.

……………………………………

Heading into the kitchen, Betty shouted, "Papi, do we have any arroz con pollo left?"

"In the refrigerator, mi amor"

She clapped excitedly, but stopped when she heard a knock at the front door. When she opened it, surprise washed over her face. "Gio! What are you doing here?"

He looked at her earnestly. "I need you to be that person for me right now."

Her jaw dropped slightly. "Oh, okay. I was about to get something to eat. C'mon, I'll make you a plate."

About fifteen minutes later, they were sitting at a table again for the second time that day, chicken and rice on plates in front of them. "I've never felt this way over a breakup before."

She twirled the fork in her hand. "Neither have I. It's like you can't breathe for the first few days."

He nodded. That's how he felt now. "That's why you were so upset at your party."

"Partly."

"I'm sorry we all put you through that," he said, staring at his rice.

She reflexively put her hand on his arm. "No, Gio. I'm lucky to have friends and family around. I just needed someone to remind me of that, like you did."

He eyed her thoughtfully. "You still need that, don't you?"

"Yeah, it doesn't go away over night."

"Since we're both going through it, maybe we should do it together."

Her face scrunched in confusion. "What?"

He shook his head to dispel her confusion. "Maybe we should go through our breakups together. You know, I help you and you help me."

She thought about it for a few minutes. Then she smiled a little. "That sounds like a good idea."

He stuck out his hand. "We're going to get over this. Together."

Her smile became wider as she took his hand and shook it. "Deal."

TBC


	16. Movies and Pizza

Chapter 16

Gio was lying on the floor of his parents' kitchen, his head under the sink. Metal clinked against metal as he tried to fix the faulty pipe. He tightened it one last time and then slid out and got up. "It should be fixed now."

Paz patted her son on the cheek. "Good job, mijo. Gracias."

He raised his eyebrows as he wiped off his hands. "You got some enchiladas ready for me, mamita?"

She laughed. "Claro que si, mi amor. You know I always feed you well."

He nodded. "I know. You're the reason I love food so much."

She gave him a critical eye, saying, "And your stomach is starting to show it."

"Ah, mamita," he grumbled lovingly. "I just had a breakup. I think that calls for a little weight gain."

She cocked her eye as she stirred the rice on the stove. "As long as it isn't too much weight gain or you'll never get another girlfriend."

"I think I'll be alright," he said as he put his arm around her.

"How are you doing with this breakup, mijo?" she asked seriously now.

He sighed and went over to the kitchen table, sitting down. Looking down at the table, he said, "It's hard. But it's been a couple weeks. It's getting better. She'll just be a hard girl to forget."

Shutting the stovetop off, she said, "Well, I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

Lifting the skillet, she brought it over to the table and poured the rice onto two plates. "I mean that you never talked about Dulce the way you have other girls."

He shifted his shoulders back incredulously. "What are you talking about, mamita? I really liked this girl."

She shrugged. "That may be but your face never brightened over her like it did that other one."

His brow furrowed. "What girl? I wasn't dating anyone before Dulce."

She looked at him pointedly over her glasses to make her point. She didn't like it when her boy tried to talk around her.

The look said it all. He knew who she was talking about. "Betty's just a friend, Mom."

She heard what she thought sounded like hurt in his voice. "You can tell yourself that all you want, Gio, but you and I know better."

He shook his head. "Whatever I did feel, we're both trying to get over breakups. We're friends now."

She put the enchiladas on the plates, handed one to him, and sat down at the table. "Just remember one thing, mijo."

He smiled slightly. "What's that?"

She looked at him warmly. "When love is to come, let it come."

He looked at her with awe. His mother was blunt but beautifully honest and he knew he didn't need to say anything. Taking a bite of food, they ate quietly before they changed the subject to the family, work, and gossip. It was a conversation between mother and son.

"Should I set a plate out for you for dinner, Gio?" she asked as she took his finished plate and hers and put them into sink.

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he said, "Nah, thanks. I'm going over to Betty's." When Paz started laughing heartily, he looked at her incredulously. "What?"

She looked at him through the corner of her eye. "You are a smart boy, mijo, but sometimes, you need to be hit over the head."

Giving his mother a quick hug, he pointedly ignored her last statement, saying, "I'll see you Sunday, mama."

………………………………

Hilda was giving Betty a manicure in her salon. "Thanks, Hilda. You give the best manicures."

Her sister looked at her inquisitively. "You've been asking me to take care of your hair and hands lately. Is there a reason?"

She blinked thoughtfully. "No, it just makes me feel better to look a little fancier."

Hilda smiled slightly. "Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with a certain sandwich chef that's been here three times in the last two weeks?"

Betty's jaw dropped. "Hilda! Gio is a friend. We've decided to help each other through our breakups."

Hilda put one hand out and said, "So he's a friend."

"Yes," Betty said firmly.

Hilda put out her other hand and said, "With benefits."

"No!" Betty cried dramatically before she started laughing. "It's just nice to have him around."

Hilda shrugged. "I'm just saying, Betty. You could do a lot worse than Gio Rossi. Don't wait around until some other girl gets there first."

She shook her head, saying, "I broke up with Henry three weeks ago, Hilda. I'm not ready for anything like that yet."

Hilda looked at her seriously. "And if you were ready, would you go there?"

Betty took a deep breath. "Yes, no. Hilda, I don't know. It's _Gio_." She had said his name with emotion, confusion, and relief, but it wasn't clear what she really wanted.

Irritated that she was dodging the question, she leaned forward and in a conspiratorial voice, she said, "Dime, Betty. Tell me at least this. Have you thought about him naked?"

She stared at her blankly for a few moments. When she heard a knock at the door, she sprang from the chair. Stopping at the salon entrance, she turned and said to her sister, "Yes," then rushed to the door. When she opened it, a smiling Gio stood in front of her, holding three pizza boxes. "Gio! Hi!"

"Hey, Betty," he said, lifting up the boxes. "I brought some dinner for us and your family. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah!" she said brightly. "Thanks. How much do we owe you?"

He waved her offer off, saying, "Just leave me some leftovers for breakfast tomorrow and you don't owe me anything."

"You love pizza for breakfast, too?" she asked, taking one of the boxes from his hands and led him to the kitchen.

He nodded. "Yeah, and it's got to be cold. There's nothing better than cold pizza for breakfast."

She stared at him slack jawed. "I've never met anyone else who agreed with me over that. Papi and Hilda think it's disgusting."

Taking a dvd off the top of the first pizza box, he said, "I figured you'd want to watch another movie. You like _Spanglish_?"

"Sure!" she said cheerfully, then became pensive and asked, "But do you really want to watch another chick flick?" The past three times he was there, they had spent their nights on the couch watching _Casablanca_, _13 Going on 30_, and _Overboard_.

He tilted his head, saying, "Well, I think we're both still in the sappy movie stage, but we need to get one thing straight: _Casablanca _is a kick ass film. It's not a chick flick, okay?"

She scoffed. "The love of a woman makes Rick want to be a better man. It's Jerry Maguire without the football."

He stared at her, unblinking. "I cannot believe you just said that."

She smiled devilishly. "Thought it would get a rise out of you."

Going over to the refrigerator, he got out a can of soda for himself and asked her what she wanted. When she said she wanted the same, he got her a can as well. Handing it over to her, he said in his deep voice, "Here's looking at you, kid."

The enticingly seductive tone in his voice discomforted her after her conversation with Hilda, but she shrugged it off, shouted to her family that there was pizza in the kitchen, and got two plates for her and Gio. They put several slices of pizza onto their plates and went to the couch. Her family knew the drill. They would stay in other areas of the house while Betty and Gio were watching a movie. Betty pretended not to notice that they always stayed scarce.

They had decided that they would talk while they ate and then watch the movie. Through a mouthful of extra-cheese pizza, Betty asked, "So how was your day?"

"I fixed my parents sink," he said chuckling.

Her forehead wrinkled, surprised by his laughing. "What is it?"

"My mother seems to think I'm clueless."

She lifted her head in feigned haughtiness and said glibly, "I could have told you that."

Now it was his turn to scoff. "Would you rather be talking to her instead of me?"

"Maybe. She sounds like a smart woman."

He glared at her from the corner of his eye and pushed back the side of his mouth in the look that he often gave her. "What about you? What happened to you today?"

She wiped tomato from her bottom lip with her napkin and said, "Daniel has been acting weird for weeks."

"Isn't he usually kind of odd?"

Shaking her head, she said, "This is different. I think he's hiding something from me."

He took a drink from his can of cola. "He's a grown man, Betty. He's allowed to have secrets."

She rolled her eyes. "I know that. I don't baby him."

He laughed. "Oh, yes, you do."

She squinted at him. "Whatever. I think whatever he's keeping so secret is really bothering him."

"He'll let you know when he's ready to tell you."

She nodded. "I guess."

They talked and laughed for an hour and a half as they ate. When they were ready, Gio put the movie into the dvd player. He sat back down and they tried not to notice how close they were sitting together.

Halfway through the movie, Betty's nose crinkled and she said, "I wish I could understand Flor without the translation."

He bent his head down to look at her. "You can't speak Spanish?"

"No. You can speak Spanish?"

"Uh, yeah. I speak Italian, too."

Her jaw fell open. "You're telling me that you speak three languages?"

He said honestly but humbly, "I know a _little _Chinese, too." When she looked flipped out, he said, "I dated a girl from Chinatown for a while. It didn't end well."

She shook her head, shocked, and stared into space trying to process the information. They nestled back into the couch and watched the movie again. As the movie neared the end, Betty couldn't help but cry out, "I just don't understand!"

He jumped from her declaration. "What?"

"Why would he go back to his wife? He loves Flor! They are the best for each other."

Staring at the couple on screen, he said, "I don't know. Maybe he wants to make his marriage work."

Emotion spilling out, she said, "But it doesn't work. No amount of force is going to make it work."

He glanced down at her again. "Betty, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. It's just a crappy ending to a sweet movie. He should have chosen the woman that was the better fit for him, not the one he made a bad commitment to."

Gio's jaw tensed. "Not everyone sees what is best for them, Betty."

She instinctively knew he was talking about her. "I'm transferring aren't I?'

He couldn't help but laugh softly. "A bit, yeah."

"Can we just watch tv now? I think I'm done with chick flicks for the night."

"Sounds good to me," he said, switching off the movie. They watched pointless countdown shows for about half an hour until Gio started to nod off. His eyelids felt heavy and he finally gave into the temptation to fall asleep.

A few minutes later, so did Betty. Her head dropped onto his shoulder. After a while, he changed positions in his sleep to get more comfortable; he shifted his arm so that it was around Betty's shoulder and her head fell onto his chest. She rolled slightly, her arm reaching over and resting on his stomach.

Ignacio had heard that they were no longer fussing at each other and wondered if Gio had left. He went into the living room and saw them sleeping in each other's arms. It was a bittersweet scene. He hated the idea of losing his baby girl. He never liked the thought of her with men. But even he had to admit that it was an adorable scene. Even asleep, this was the first time in months that he had seen her look peaceful. She was already starting to smile genuinely again. His Betty was coming back to him slowly and surely and he knew that part of that was because of Gio.

He had liked Gio since the moment he met him. He was respectful, friendly, and handy. He was one of the good kids from the neighborhood. And he knew almost as instantly that he was smitten with Betty. Ignacio encouraged those feelings. He seemed much better for her than Henry. That's why he had been so surprised when he had seen him at the birthday party look so happy with another girl. Had his feelings changed that much in two months? But after what Ignacio had just seen in the living room, he knew that the feelings hadn't changed much.

Perhaps it was going to take two breakups for Betty to finally be happy. Ignacio was hopeful that was the case.

…………**..**

Gio felt the need to stretch his body. But when he tried to move, he felt someone next to him. The heat felt so good against his body. He rubbed his hand back and forth slowly across her arm and could feel that her arm was lying on his stomach close to his navel. Still with his eyes closed, he smiled. He started to turn towards her to put his arms around her as one hand cupped the back of her head. But when he heard the whimper of the stirring woman, he froze. Fully awake now, he realized that he couldn't touch her like that. Instead he sat still for a few moments and listened to her breathe. He ducked his head down to smell the flowery perfume in her hair. After only three weeks, he missed the feel of waking up next to a woman, a woman that he cared about. Soaking in as much as he could in a few moments, he finally shook her awake. "Betty? Are you awake?"

She groaned as her eyes refused to open. "Gio? What do you want?"

He smiled. "We ought to get up, Betty."

Her mind started to come into focus. "_We_?"

Patting her on the shoulder, he said, "Yeah, we fell asleep on the couch."

Now her eyes flew open. The first thing she saw was blue cotton of a polo t-shirt. She was lying firmly against his body and she was just beginning to realize it. "Oh." Pulling away, she readjusted her classes that had gotten crooked from resting on Gio's chest. Trying not to blush, she said, "Uh, what time is it?"

He looked at his watch. The tv was still on but the house was dark and still. "It's 3:00 in the morning."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow, we were out for like five hours."

Trying to force himself not to think about what made him sleep so peacefully, he said, "Guess we were tired."

She picked up the two plates that they had left on the coffee table. "I'm hungry. What about you?"

"Yeah, I could eat."

They both went into the kitchen. Betty pulled out a pizza box and fixed them both a few slices of cold pizza. They chatted about their schedules that they'd have to fulfill in the next few hours, both avoiding the fact that they had fallen asleep in each other's arms and both not wanting to address how much they liked it.

Finally, Betty's eyes darted over to Gio's. "Thank you."

His head jerked at the idea. "For what?"

The corner of her mouth lifted into a smile. "For being the person that eats cold leftovers with me at 3:00 in the morning."

He looked into her eyes. "Believe me, it's likewise."

They finished their breakfast and Gio made a move to leave. At the door, he said, "Goodnight, Betty."

Perkily, she said, "Actually, it's good morning."

He couldn't help but smile. "Then good morning. I'll see you soon."

"Good," she said assertively. "Bye, Gio."

As he got in his van and drove mindlessly home, he finally allowed his thoughts about the evening to invade his mind. His mother was right.

For the first time in a long time, he realized how easily his feelings were going to return for Betty Suarez.

TBC


	17. Ice Cream and Realizations

Chapter 17

Justin timidly walked into his mother's salon. She was closing down for the day and was alone. "Mom, can I talk to you for a second?"

Gripping the broom in her hand tightly, she said, "Ay, Justin, did something happen? Am I going to have to kick that Alex Garcia's ass again for picking on you?"

He put up his hands to stop her. "No, Mom! It's about you."

Setting the broom aside, she sat down in salon chair. "What is it, Justin?"

"Do you still miss Dad?" he asked quietly, looking away from her.

She looked at him sadly. "I'll always miss Santos, Justin. But I'm not grieving anymore."

"Then why do you look so sad?"

Her heart broke for him. Smiling, she said, "I'm not sad, Justin. I'm just a little stressed out from the salon. You've got nothing to worry about."

He shifted the weight on his hips. "Are you sure?"

She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "Yes, Justin. I'm sure. Now go prepare for you musical. I hear you got the lead in _Kiss Me, Kate_."

His face brightened considerably. "Our teacher did say that she thinks this will be our best performance yet."

"Then go practice!" she said cheerily. "Supper's in an hour." She watched her relieved son rush off and when he was no longer in sight, she let her smile fade. Justin knew her too well. She was preoccupied and a little sad. She spent most of her time sneaking off to see Daniel and when she wasn't she was thinking about him. She was thinking about how much she hated the idea of sharing him with all of the other women he dated. And she would never ask him to be exclusive because he wasn't going to choose a single mom with no bank account over his own lifestyle. The main reason she had never told her family that she was seeing him was because she knew it would never last.

And now her decisions were affecting her son. He was worried for her. She feared that she had lost sight of her priorities. She needed to provide for Justin. She needed to get her business running successfully. She needed to find a decent man that would be a good father to Justin.

And Daniel Meade was not guiding her to succeed in those goals.

After supper, she made the trip to Daniel's loft. She took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

He opened the door, a wide smile on his face. "Hey, you're here early."

He started to pull her close and nuzzle his head in her curve of her neck. She tensed, putting her hands firmly against his chest. "Daniel, we should talk."

His face drooped. He went over and sat down on the bed; she sat down next to him. "Is everything okay?"

Tears threatened to swell in her eyes. "I can't do this anymore."

In a low whisper of a voice, he said, "Can't do what? I don't understand."

She waved her hands between them, saying, "This. Us. It's not working."

He turned closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Then let's make it work, Hilda. What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "We live in two different worlds, Daniel. I need to think about my son."

"We've only been dating two months, does it have to be that serious that fast?"

She looked down at her hands in her lap. "When you've got a kid, yes. Every decision I make has to be done with him in mind. And I haven't been doing that."

"What are you saying?"

Her hair fell over her face, brushing across her cheek. "I've got to let you go." She stood up and headed for the door.

He followed her, his skin pale and his hands clammy. "Wait. Can't we figure something out?"

She turned to look at him one last time. "I just did. Goodbye, Daniel."

He watched her leave, then shut the door. His back was against the door and he slid down it until he landed on the floor. As soon as his legs would move again, he would need a drink. Several drinks.

…………………………**..**

A week later, Gio was leaning against the Suarez's kitchen counter, his arms folded in front of him. He had beat Betty home and was waiting for her to get off of work.

Ignacio went over to the coffee pot. "Would you like some coffee, Gio?"

He nodded. "Sure, Mr. Suarez, that would be great."

His face scrunched, "Por favor, call me Ignacio."

Gio smiled. "Okay," he said. Ignacio poured the coffee into two cups and handed one to him. "Thanks, Ignacio."

"You're welcome," he said. "Do you know when Betty's coming home?"

Gio checked his watch. "She called my cell about twenty minutes ago to tell me she'd be back in about forty-five minutes but to come over anyway."

Ignacio sat down at the table. "So how do you think she's doing with all of this Henry stuff?"

Gio raised his eyebrows. He was surprised that he was asking. "It's been about a month since they broke up. I think she's working through it pretty well."

Ignacio nonchalantly took a drink from his coffee and said, "And what about you? Betty said you and Dulce didn't work out."

Gio sat down across from him and let out a surprised breath. "Yeah, we broke up about the same time as Betty and Henry."

Ignacio looked at him with fatherly care and sensitivity. "How are you doing?"

He stared at the swirl of cream in his coffee and said, "It was really hard at first. But it hasn't been as difficult to get over as I predicted. I don't miss her as much as I thought I would. Am I a horrible person or what?"

He shook his head. "You're not terrible, Gio. You're just being honest." Taking another drink from his coffee, he said, "You know, there wasn't a day that I questioned my love for Rosa. And when she died, I have missed her more than I ever thought was possible. I still do."

Gio looked at him earnestly. "I'm sorry, Ignacio."

He locked eyes with Gio. "Don't feel sorry for me, son. I felt that way because she was the one for me. I found her. And you and Dulce apparently weren't those people for each other."

Gio cracked a warm smile. "You are scarily insightful."

Ignacio gave him a deadpan look. "You should remind my daughters of that."

Gio laughed. "I think I will."

"You will what?" Betty asked as she came in from behind them.

"Hey!" Gio said welcomingly.

"Hello, mija," Ignacio said. "How was work?"

She sighed. "Just another day at Mode. The men were catty and the women were starving."

"Now there's a clever description from the writer," Gio said as he stood up.

She smiled at him. "Have you been waiting long?"

He shrugged. "Just a few minutes. I got to visit with your dad for a little while."

She gave her dad a look. "You didn't tell him anything embarrassing, did you?"

Ignacio smiled playfully. "I just showed him your baby picture where you're naked with that sombrero on your head."

"Papi!"

Gio looked at her amused and stunned. "Do you really have a picture like that? Please let me see it. I promise to only make a few copies."

She hit him on the arm. "You are never seeing that picture."

Putting his hand on her wrist lightly, he said, "Hey, do you feel like watching a movie tonight?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Not really."

"Me either. I thought that maybe we could just go take a long walk and find an ice cream parlor or something."

She smiled excitedly. "That sounds like a great idea." She glanced over to her dad. "Bye, Papi. We'll be back in a while."

"Have a good time, mi amor."

Gio and Betty went outside into the fresh spring air. "So what do you want to talk about?"

She stuck her bottom lip out as she thought. "I kind of don't want to talk. You ever have one of those days you just want to take everything in?"

He looked down at her and blinked as he nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

They began walking aimlessly, watching the life of the neighborhood around them. They smiled at the children, felt the caress of the breeze, and smelled the sweetness of freshly cut grass. Betty felt the impulse to touch him but wasn't sure if she should. She had been thinking about how she had fallen asleep with him all week and she didn't want to be presumptuous. But he had really helped her heal over Henry in the last month and she appreciated it. He had become a dear friend and she felt safe with him.

Throwing her concerns to the wind, she lifted her hand and put it through his arm so that her arm was looped around his. He looked down at her, surprised, but just smiled.

They walked for blocks in comfortable silence, her arm around his.

Neither brought up that they had fallen asleep together. They didn't point out how good their arms had felt resting around the other's body. They ignored how much they liked the other's perfume and cologne. Instead, they talked about daily nothings joyfully as they stopped to get ice cream.

When "Ain't No Other Man" came over the ice cream parlor's speakers, Gio squinted in thought. "I can't decide if Christina Aguilera's music is annoying or oddly appealing."

Betty cocked her head. "I think it's both." She smiled sassily. "You know, like you."

His mouth opened in mock offense. "That's rude," he said, laughing.

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, witty comeback."

He gave a lopsided smile. "I'm not the writer." They started eating their ice cream again when he said, "So, how is your writing coming?"

"I think I have writer's block. Nothing sounds interesting and Daniel hasn't offered to let me write for the magazine again," she said, twirling her spoon in her cup.

"Are you at least practicing? Like writing exercises or something?"

She licked her spoon, not noticing that he was intently paying attention to the movements her mouth made. "I write in my journal everyday. I guess that counts."

His eyes sparkled teasingly. "Is there a page in there devoted to me?"

She looked down but smiled coyly. "There might be a few ink blots on the page that look like your name."

He leaned towards her. "And what did you say about me?"

"Oh, no," she scoffed. "Those pages are getting burned along with the naked baby picture."

"Betty, you deprive a man of any proper fun," he said, a smile curling on his lips.

But his words pained her and she instantly felt doubtful. "Maybe I do."

His hand immediately reached out and grabbed hers. "Betty, I was joking. I'm sorry."

She looked up at him and said firmly, "No, maybe you're right. Maybe I just suck the life out of all the men I'm around. You better stay away, Gio. I'll suck the happy out of you next."

He looked at her from under his brow. "Stop. I was teasing. If I thought you were depriving me of fun, I would be gone by now. Betty, you have saved me this last month."

She looked at him pitifully. "I have?"

He laughed softly. "Yes. You're just the right amount of fun."

She let her shoulders droop, relieved by his encouragement. "You are, too, you know."

"What?"

She looked into his eyes seriously but warmly. "The right amount of fun."

He smiled at her. As she looked at him innocently and tenderly, he felt all of his old feelings flooding back as if a dam had broken. He knew one thing for sure now. Dulce had not been the one.

Looking back at Betty, he wondered if he had found her.

TBC


	18. This Boy's Fire

Chapter 18

Betty was staring at her weekly planner and was seriously contemplating dropping her head to her desk. Her stomach rumbled and she whimpered at the thought of having to get up to get lunch. She didn't want to move.

"Wow, Suarez. If your stomach got any louder, you could start a band."

"Well, that's rude," she said, looking up at who she knew was Gio.

He smiled at her. "I thought you could use some lunch," he said in his breathy, deep voice, handing her a wrapped sandwich.

She stared at it for a few moments before taking it from his hand. Sighing, she said, "Thank you so much. I am starving."

He turned so that he could lean on her desk. He put his hands near his hips on the edge of the desk. "So I've been thinking."

She unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite. Through her chewing, she said, "Oh?"

He folded his arms. "We've watched enough old movies. We need to get out."

She dropped her jaw. "We do?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You're not getting a little stir crazy? It's time we start moving onto the next step." When he saw the surprise in her face as if thinking that he meant the next step of their relationship, he said, "We need to start moving onto the next step of closure."

She sighed, pretending not to be interested. "What do you have in mind?"

He clapped his hands together. "Let's go dancing."

Her heart fluttered. "Okay," she said with a big smile.

He put his hand on her shoulder encouragingly. "You should dress up tonight, look really hot."

She immediately felt insecure. "What?"

He put his hands up defensively. "You always look great, Betty. But everybody feels better after a breakup if they look extra hot."

She looked down, her hair brushing across her face. When she looked back up at him, she said, "You're right. I hadn't thought about it. I think it would make me feel better. You should do the same."

He grinned. "Great. I'll pick you up at 8:30."

As soon as he left, she rushed over to the closet to find Christina. "Can you help me out?"

"With what, Betty?" she asked as she pinned a model.

"Gio and I are going to go to a club tonight and I need something to wear."

Her head whipped up to look at Betty. "Oh! Are you going on a date?"

"No," she said, waving her hands in protest. "I'm not ready for that."

Christina went back to working on the dress. "Are you sure? That man is like a pint-sized fire cracker waiting to pop," she growled.

"Christina, I need clothes—not sexual innuendos."

She finished with the model and sent her away. The next model came in. Christina said, "I don't think you'll find anything here, but I know a great store we can go to after work."

Betty's shoulders straightened. "Alright." She took a few short breaths. "I'm nervous. Should I feel nervous?"

Christina looked at her with doe eyes. "I don't know. Should you?"

……………………………**..**

After work, they went to a trendy second hand store. Betty bought a vintage pair of jeans that complemented her hips and made her legs look longer. The blouse was short sleeved, a dark blue silk with a V-neck, and flowed from the bust to her hips. She got a pair of black flats.

Before separating at the subway, Christina reassured her that she was going to look gorgeous. They hugged and Betty headed home.

Betty opened the front door and walked past the living room to put up her jacket.

Her father was sitting in his favorite chair watching his telenovela. "Hey, mija. How many enchiladas do you want tonight?"

She peaked her head into the room. "None, Papi. I'm…going out tonight."

Hilda bounded from the kitchen. "Going out? Do you have a date?"

"No!" she cried. "Gio and I are going out to cheer each other up."

Hilda nodded knowingly. "Ah." She went back into the kitchen.

Betty, misinterpreting the look, followed her. "Hilda, I won't go if you're not okay with it."

"Ay, Betty, no." She took her cup of coffee and sat down at the table. "I went on one date that didn't work out. He's a good friend to you. Now go and get happy again."

Betty looked into her eyes and, deciding that Hilda was being absolutely honest, she said, "I've got to go upstairs, shower, and change." She lifted up the bag in her hand. "I got a new outfit."

Hilda grinned. "Go then. Hurry!"

After her shower, she put on her new clothes and took extra time to perfect her makeup. She put half of her hair up and left the rest down so that it created soft, casual curls cascading down her back and pulled hair away from her face. She felt like getting some fresh air, so she took her jacket and sat on the front stoop.

When he pulled up in his van across the street, she hadn't noticed him yet. A streetlamp highlighted her face. Her eyes were closed as if she were soaking up the sounds of the neighborhood. She looked still, peaceful. Strands of loose hair blew across her face, some clinging to her mouth. She didn't try to brush it away, continuing to meditate. She was a beautiful vision.

Damn, he loved this woman.

He couldn't pretend that he didn't. Once he finally knew that he was over Dulce, the feelings for Betty had come back as quickly as he had felt them the first time. But he was going to try to stay platonic with her until he knew that she was over Henry. He refused to be her rebound, so now he resolved himself to be a good friend. He walked up to her and watched her for a few moments before he said, "Waiting out here for someone important?"

Her eyes popped open at the sound of his voice. She gave him a lopsided smile. "Not really, but you'll do."

Holding out his hand, he asked, "You ready to go?"

She took his hand and let him help pull her up. "Let's go." She put her purse around her shoulder.

He looked at her from head to toe. "Wow."

Panicking, she looked down at herself. "What? Is this too much?"

He tried to catch his breath. "You look amazing."

She looked down bashfully and smiled. "Thanks." She looked at him now and saw that he was wearing an out-of-character deep blue button-down shirt, a faded pair of jeans, and his leather jacket. "You look good, too."

He chuckled, embarrassed at her simple declaration and then was surprised by his embarrassment. "Shouldn't I stop in and tell your family hello?" he asked, hitching his thumb in the direction of her front door.

Shaking her head, she said, "No, they're all busy eating. Let's let this just be us tonight."

He put his hand on the small of her back as they walked across the street to his car. They got into the car and he drove them to a restaurant.

She looked at the front of the building with an awed smile. "This is the place I said I wanted to try but never had the time to go to."

He locked his van and followed her to the entrance, opening the door for her. "I remembered."

They sat down at their table and thanked the waiter for the menus.

Betty scoured the menu. "What's good here?"

"I don't know. This is my first time, too," he said as his eyes went down the list.

"Everything sounds delicious," she said excitedly.

Looking over his menu at her, he said, "Since this is a new experience for both of us, why don't we both try plates we've never eaten before?"

She looked at him a little nervously, but her eyes showed that she would take the challenge. "Okay, let's try it."

They ordered their food and talked while they waited. Once their meals came, they continued to laugh and talk as they ate. After the meal, he paid and they left for the dance club. They found a spot on the dance floor and danced for about an hour. Gio was weary of touching her, afraid that it would lead to an implication of something more, which was too soon. So they stood close but danced separately. He knew that she was good at a salsa, but he was surprised to see that she could hit each beat with a pop of her hips and shoulders. The way she moved made him hate himself for deciding not to touch her. She was so sensual and didn't even realize it. Her outfit swayed perfectly with the movements of her body and showed off her curves with enticing perfection.

Being unable to resist the urge to reach out and touch her, his hand extended towards her waist. But before Betty noticed it, she leaned towards him and said, "I'm thirsty. Are you?"

He breathed in and out, yanking back his hand. "Sure." He led her to the bar and they found a place to sit at the edge of the bar. He ordered a beer for himself and she ordered a daiquiri. "Are you having fun?"

Gleefully, she beamed. "Are you kidding? I haven't gone dancing like this in months. It's so nice to not have to think about my life for a while and just…move."

He smiled, happy to see her look so excited. But before he could say anything, they overheard two women behind them laughing.

"Did you see that girl dancing? It was like watching _Sweating to the Oldies_," one of the women said with righteous bitchiness.

The other woman smiled. "Her date is a total hottie. Did he pick her up at the pound out of pity?"

Cackling they turned around and almost walked into Betty and Gio. From the looks on the women's faces, it was clear that they had been talking about them. The women walked further down the bar, giggling.

Tears stung at her eyes. "I think I'm ready to leave," she choked.

Anger and pain for her made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "No."

She shook her head. "I just want to get out of here."

Standing up, he was determined. He reached out his hand for the second time that night. "Come with me." When she looked at him with worry, he said, "Trust me."

She took a deep breath and for the second time, took his hand in hers. He went over to the dj and whispered a request. He led her to the middle of the floor.

Panicking, she asked, "Gio, what are you doing?"

He looked into her eyes. "Just follow my lead."

The speakers spilled out the sounds of drums and a distinctive guitar. It was Jennifer Lopez and Santana's _This Boy's Fire_. Throwing out his decision not to touch her, he put his hands on her hips and stood so close that their clothing brushed together. With his hands, he guided her hips to move back and forth to the rhythm with his.

"Gio…"

He ground his hips seductively into hers and whispered into her ear, "You're the hottest woman here, Betty. The most beautiful. I believe that. All you have to do is believe it, too."

"But—" she began to protest.

He put his face close to hers. "Just dance with me."

The lyrics started playing. _I told 'em this would be a once time dance. Meaning one time chance._

He started some salsa steps with his hands still on her hips. Their movements became bigger and more expressive, taking up more of the dance floor.

_  
After I said that, oh, that's when he got close to me_._  
_

He spun her and pulled her close, his lips coming dangerously close to touching hers.

_  
Now I'm asking myself, "What has he done to me?"_

As she felt his hands, saw his eyes completely focused on her body, she began to forget what had happened and the people around them. He danced around her as she danced by herself. When he came back in front of her, they pulled each other close.

This can't turn into love, no. The rose petals were all in the air.

People were starting to circle to watch them. Gio grabbed her hips again and guided her to move downward, swaying with him as they did. He let her come up first and then he trailed upward so that his face and body nearly brushed up against hers. As he came up, Betty didn't realize until afterwards that she put her hands on either side of his face and held him in front of her with her hands when he stood up straight and looked at her.

_  
Just might need that fire truck to come and get me._

They did a few more salsa steps and he spun her again. When she came back to him, he dipped her seamlessly. The crowd that had been circling cheered. As she stood up from the dip, her legs straddled one of his, her arms coming up around his head again. 

Dip me in water 'cause this boy's fire--it's got a hold of me.

He put his hands around her back and they moved rhythmically hip to shoulder.

_  
Can't say I don't want it 'cause he really put it on me in a way that I don't know if I'm going or coming._Letting the music take her away, she dipped down, swaying her hips. His hands slid up her back and through her hair. He couldn't help but show how turned on he was through his face, his mouth opening as he breathed hard. They both spun away from each other and came back holding hands again. They danced until the song ended, with the crowd yelling and clapping as they watched them. At the final beat, his hands were holding her waist dangerously close to her chest and her hands were resting at the base of his neck. They stood silent and close, breathing heavily and not wanting to let go of each other. When the next song began playing and everyone else filled the dance floor again, they finally broke their trances and pulled apart.

I know I drive him loco, but that's just the way you make a mama's hips go.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked shakily. When she nodded, he said, "Stand by the bar. I'll go get our jackets."

As he headed to the coat room, the two women who had ridiculed Betty earlier came up behind him. They smiled, their hands on their hips. "We saw you dancing," one of them said.

He turned to look at them. When he realized who they were, he said, "Oh?"

The other grinned in a way she must have thought was seductive. Flipping strands of hair behind her, she said, "We thought you were really good."

He turned back around to get the jackets. When he tried to move away from them, they blocked his path.

Cocking her head to the side, one said, "We were hoping you'd ditch your date and go dancing with us. We know the hottest new club."

He smirked. He wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. "Sorry, I don't think so."

Their smiles faltered. "Why not?"

He said uninterestedly, "Bitchy skank just isn't my type." Walking past them without saying anything else, he could hear their shrieks of outrage. He smiled. That smile faded and he froze when he saw a handsome man talking to Betty.

Betty was standing by the bar watching everyone dance as she waited for Gio. She wondered at his ability to make her feel like they were the only people in the room. Nothing had built up her confidence more in weeks than that dance. She couldn't even believe she had moved that way in public, but it had felt so good. Before she realized it, a tall man with sculpted blonde hair walked up to her.

"I just wanted to let you know that you are an amazing dancer," he said with a broad smile.

She hedged nervously as she often did. "Oh, thank you. It was a lot of fun."

He tilted his head and turned his lips up slightly. "Would you like to dance?"

She scoffed, surprised that he asked. "I'm sorry. I was just about to leave."

His face drooped. Sticking out his hand, he said, "My name's Jason."

Her eyebrow flinched and she smiled. Shaking his hand, she said, "Betty."

He leaned closer to her. "Can I have your phone number?"

Looking down, she wasn't sure what to say. "I'm here with someone."

"Are you always with him?"

Her mouth opened but no words came out. "As of late? Usually."

He checked her out one more time. "Lucky guy." Then he walked away.

Gio came back up with their jackets. "He asked for your phone number, didn't he?" he asked with a glib smile he didn't actually feel.

She took her jacket. "Yeah, he did. It was the weirdest thing."

As they walked out of the club together, he asked, "What are you talking about? After that dance and the way you look, every guy in here is wishing that they were me."

She laughed softly. "I don't know about that, but he did want to dance."

He cocked an eyebrow. "So, did you give him your number?"

"No, I told him I wasn't available."

He found the van and opened the door for her. "Why did you tell him that?"

She shrugged. "Because I'm not available."

They drove in relative silence only discussing the weather and how pretty the moon looked. When they drove up to her house, he got up and followed her to her door.

"Thanks for cheering me up tonight, Gio. I really needed this."

He put his hand on her upper arm and said, "I think I needed this, too."

She smiled. "I didn't feel lonely tonight. I'm grateful for that."

"So am I," he said quietly. After a quiet pause, he said, "Well, goodnight."

She looked disappointed that he was leaving and the night was ending. "Good night, Gio."

"How 'bout I come over with a movie and pizza tomorrow? Something void of sappy romance? Maybe overly violent and masculine?"

She perked up. "Make it from the late 80s Bruce Willis era and you've got a plan. It should be pepperoni, though."

He looked at her oddly.

Chuckling, she added, "The pizza."

"Oh," he said smiling. "See you then." He leaned in to hug her and she allowed it much less awkwardly than the time they had hugged in Daniel's office and much less embarrassingly as the one at her birthday party. Holding her close, he breathed in her perfume. She let her head rest close to his and could feel the muscles in his back as she held him to her.

When they pulled apart, their faces were only inches away from each other. Gio wanted so badly to kiss her and he thought that she might let him, but he knew it was too soon. Instead, he stayed close, feeling her breath on his skin as he repeated in almost a whisper, "Goodnight, Betty."

She only smiled this time and went into the house as he watched her step inside. He turned and looked out into the neighborhood from the stoop. The scene echoed of the night he had went out with Hilda. But instead of feeling like he had been hit with a bag of bricks, his step was light. His lips couldn't refrain from smiling.

They had moved perfectly as they danced together. He could feel it on her skin, in her steps: Henry was losing his hold.

TBC


	19. Expectations

A/N: I had a really small summer break so I've been plugging away all weekend on these chapters. I'm sure it will slow down after I start school again on Wednesday! Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this story and thank you to those who are still reading it after all this time. There is a small homage to Dawson's Creek in this chapter, so if you are a Joey/Pacey fan, you might catch the feel of one scene in particular. Enough of my rambling! Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chapter 19

Daniel let the sun beat against his skin as it poured through the window in his loft. He didn't have the energy to get out of bed. It had been two weeks since Hilda had broken things off and he didn't feel any better now than he did that day. In fact, he felt worse.

He had been devastated when he had found out about Sofia. He had been hurt by Renee. But this felt entirely different. It felt like a piece of him had been stolen and he didn't know how to recover it.

He reached over, grabbing his cell phone. No messages, well not from Hilda anyway. He had been hoping that she would change her mind and call him but she never had. She never returned any of his calls and he couldn't send her flowers or buy her gifts because her family would start asking why she was receiving them, which is something he knew she wouldn't want.

He kept replaying that day in his mind. He wondered what he could have said that would have made Hilda change her mind. He knew she was concerned about Justin. He wished that she knew how much he cared about Justin, too. He liked Justin a lot and he hated to see him in pain or upset. The thing he had hated most about keeping their relationship secret was that he never got to spend time with him.

His phone rang. Picking it up, he said, "Hello?"

A cheery voice came through the other side. "Good morning, Daniel!"

Grumbling, he said, "Betty, why are you calling so early?"

There was a pause. "Daniel, it's 9:00. I'm making sure you're awake."

"I'm awake. I'll be there in forty minutes."

In a firm voice, she said, "Good. You have a meeting with Fabia at 10:00."

He hung up the phone and rolled out of bed. What had been so hard the past two weeks was that he tried to pretend at work that everything was fine. He didn't want anyone to figure it out, especially Betty.

He had to wait until he got home each night to wallow in his pain.

……………………………**.. **

Betty's brow furrowed as she hung up the phone. Daniel was acting even stranger now than he had a few weeks ago. But he was in no mood to tell her what was going on and she decided to wait until he was. Right now, she had more pressing matters on her mind.

The past month and a half kept running through her mind in a continual loop. She was surprised how quickly she was healing over Henry. She was even more surprised by how much she thought about Gio lately.

After that night at the dance club, she found her thoughts drifting to him frequently. He had been such a good friend and they had helped each other out a lot. But she knew it was more than that, too. When she was supposed to be working or while she was talking to someone, she would often start daydreaming about the way Gio's hands had touched her hips. She could see the way his mouth was slightly open when he had looked at her. She could still feel his skin against her hands.

She wondered what those thoughts meant. One thing was for sure was that she couldn't shake it. They had been hanging out steadily at her house or at clubs for the past two weeks and when she looked at him, she often found herself staring at his lips. She wanted, needed to know what he thought of her, too. Was he thinking about her all of the time like she was him? Was she just a friend? Was he still not over Dulce?

Those fears crept in and threatened not to let go of her all day. She decided that she would think about it all day, sleep on it that night, and then call him the next day to see if he wanted to hang out. If he was to only be a friend, she wanted at least to be a good friend back to him.

…………………………………**..**

The following day, Gio was preparing to open for the day when the cell phone in his pocket started vibrating. Assuming that it was his mother, he flipped open the phone without looking at the caller id. "Bueno."

"Hey, I wanted to call you before work. Did I make it?"

He flinched when he realized it was Betty on the line and the inevitable butterflies swirled in his stomach. "I'm just opening now. What's up?"

She said, "It's just that you've been around so much to cheer me up and I never ask you to do anything. So I thought I'd return the favor."

He gripped the dishrag in his hand tighter. "Uh, sounds great. What do you have in mind?"

There was silence on the line for a few moments and then she said, "I don't know. Maybe we could do something crazy."

He laughed. "Crazy? You're not going to get me arrested, are you?"

She heartily said, "No! I thought…we could climb the fire escape to the Blue Note and listen to music."

He smiled. "Okay. I'll pick you up at 9:00 tonight."

He thought he heard excitement in her voice when she said, "I'll see you then."

His uncle came in from the back. "Ah, hombre has a date?"

Gio tossed the rag at him, smiling. "Callate, Tio. It's not a date." He paused and looked away. "I don't think."

His uncle eyed him with a raised eyebrow. "This one's not going to burn the house down is she?"

He laughed. "Worry more about losing your hair, man. That's what you've got to be worried about."

Andre started to wipe the counter down with a rag. "I stopped worrying about where my hair was going a long time ago, mijo."

He spent the rest of the day wondering if her invitation implied anything more and avoiding his uncle's teasing. At the end of the day, he closed his deli as quickly as possible and rushed home. He took a shower and put on a pair of his best jeans and a black t-shirt. He grabbed his keys and a leather jacket on his way out the door.

……………………………**..**

"You're going out again, Aunt Betty?" Justin asked as he stood in the doorway, watching Betty putting soft curls in her hair. "Most people would consider this dating now."

Her eyes became slits. "Shouldn't you be memorizing your lines for the school play?"

He folded his arms precociously. "I know _Kiss Me, Kate _forwards and backwards." He looked down at his shoes and then back up. "You know, Aunt Betty, if you keep going out with Gio, he's going to start having expectations."

Hilda had been walking by and heard the conversation. She put her hands on her son's shoulders. "Justin! Go do your homework and don't think about _expectations _until you grow facial hair."

Justin rolled his eyes. "I'm so underappreciated in this house." He left the room and Hilda shut the door behind him.

Hilda stood behind Betty and looked at her in the mirror. She desperately wanted Betty to ask her to help her put her makeup on, but instead said, "Betty, he's going to have expectations."

Betty's jaw dropped and she spun around, the curling iron in her hand. "Hilda! He doesn't have expectations. We've been hanging out for almost two months now. It's not a date!"

Hilda tilted her head and looked down as if to say that she wasn't so sure. "I heard you on the phone this morning, Betty. I'm just saying that he's helped you through a lot. And if something were to happen…we'd all be happy for you."

Betty's lips turned upward slightly and she hugged her sister.

Then Hilda pulled away to look at her and said, "And if you guys get together, we'd have free sandwiches all the time!"

Betty pushed her sister towards the door. "Get out," she playfully grumbled.

"Betty!" Justin hollered from downstairs. "Gio's here!"

Betty and Hilda looked at each other nervously. Hilda put her hands on her sister's arms. "You look beautiful, Betty."

Betty held her breath. "It's not a date."

………………………………………**.**

Gio was standing in the foyer with Ignacio and Justin, his hands folded in front of him.

"So where are you headed?" Ignacio asked.

Gio turned to him. "The Blue Note."

Justin then got excited and said, "Perez Hilton says that Wilhelmina Slater's supposed to be there tonight with her mystery boyfriend. Can you try to get a cell phone picture of him?"

Gio stared at him. "Uh, we aren't actually going _in _the club."

Justin's brow furrowed. "What?"

Ignacio leaned down to him and whispered, "Don't ask. We don't want to know."

Betty and Hilda came down the stairs and the guys looked up to greet them. Gio locked eyes with Betty. She looked great. She was wearing a simple black dress with a soft, pink flower pattern. Her cardigan sweater matched the flowers and highlighted her dark hair and skin tone. Soft, loose curls came down over her shoulders and around her neck.

"Hi," he said breathily as she came to stand in front of him.

She smiled and held her purse in front of her. "Hi."

"Are you ready to go?"

She nodded. He shook hands with her father and they told everyone goodbye. He opened the door for her and followed her out. At the end of the sidewalk, he opened the van door for her and she got in.

When he went around and got in, he looked over at her and said, "Is your family okay tonight? They were acting kind of weird."

Glibly, she said, "I think there's a gas leak in the house. Either that or Papi put some booze in the coffee."

He smiled. "Hey, are you hungry?"

She perkily said, "I could eat." They grinned at each other.

"Good. I packed a couple sandwiches and a bottle of not _extremely _cheap wine."

"Oh, what a surprise! The sandwich guy has sandwiches."

He parked in the back of the building. Leaning back over the seat, he got the picnic basket and got out of the car. Betty got out also and followed him to the side wall. Sounds of jazz pounded through the brick. He pulled down the fire escape and started up the steps. She went up behind him.

He got to the roof and held out a hand for her. She stopped at the top of the ladder and looked at his hand with a smirk. "Are you going to push me off?"

His dark eyes looked into hers. "Only if you get too sassy."

As she took his hand, she said, "Well, that _never_ happens."

He helped her up and they bumped into each other from the momentum. They laughed awkwardly as they still held on to each other, both feeling the warm tingling of desire flutter in their stomachs.

Picking the basket up, he walked over towards the front of the building which provided a spectacular view of the New York streets below them. She looked around breathlessly. "This is beautiful, Gio. I've lived here all my life and never done anything like this."

He was putting a blanket down and scoffed at her remark. "Ah, come on. You work for the Meades. You're telling me you haven't done something crazy for the family that sleeps with everything that moves, changes sexes, and kills people?"

Getting worked up, she said, "They aren't as crazy as they sound!" When Gio sat down and just stared up at her, his eyebrows raised, she let out a laugh and said, "Yeah, okay, I guess they are." She shrugged and sat down with him. "But they are very nice people. They've done a lot for me."

Unpacking the basket, he said, "I guess they've done a lot for me, too."

She cocked her head. "How?"

"Well," he said, handing her a sandwich, "if they didn't hire the sandwich vendor, I wouldn't have met you." His eyes met hers when he said it and both froze. He looked away and tried to save himself. "If I wouldn't have met you, then you wouldn't have gotten me fired and I wouldn't already own Gio's Deli."

She grinned and unwrapped her sandwich. "I guess you're right. You should write them a thank you note."

He uncorked the bottle of wine. "Maybe you should do it. You're the writer."

Her face instantly brightened. "I forgot to tell you! I wrote something this week."

His face broke into a large smile. "That's great, Betty! Am I gonna get to read it?"

"Do you want to read it?" she asked, blushing.

"Hells yeah I do!"

She put her head down, shyly. "I don't know. It's embarrassing."

He took a drink from the wine bottle. "Why? It's just me."

She blushed even darker. She had no problem reading her story in front of a writing class anymore. She had that hotel review published in Sofia's magazine. Daniel had read her work before. No, she wasn't embarrassed for people to read her work. Just Gio. He had been the person that had pushed her to write the most. He had encouraged her and believed in her so his opinion, as much as she didn't want to admit, mattered the most.

But she didn't want him to know all of that, so she said, "I'll let you read it tomorrow."

He passed her the wine bottle. She took it, but wrinkled her nose. "Why didn't you bring glasses?"

He rolled his eyes. "I thought you wanted to do something crazy."

She cocked an eyebrow. "And that involves swapping germs?" Again, both nervously paused and then laughed at the double meaning.

He gave a crooked smile and there was a challenge in his eyes. "Lighten up, Suarez, or I might start mistaking you for a Mode Girl again."

She squinted in agitation and took a swig from the bottle.

For a while, they listened to the music below them in peaceful silence as they ate and passed the bottle back and forth. Finally, Gio looked over, blinked, and asked, "Want to dance?"

She stood up, wobbly and put her hands out. Gio smiled as he saw that her eyes were closed like a patient little girl waiting for him. He put one hand in hers and the other around her waist and then pulled her closer to him.

They both let out a long breath that they hadn't realized they had been holding. They moved to the smooth, slow beats of the band playing underneath their feet. For the first time, they felt completely comfortable with each other.

Until Betty put her head on his shoulder.

It had been a reflex that she hadn't realized she had done. He instantly tightened up for a moment, surprised. But as they both continued to sway, he loosened up again and put his arm further around her back.

In a husky, soft voice, he said, "I like you like this."

Her voice lilted. "Tipsy?"

Chuckling, he said, "No, happy."

She looked up at him, her eyes a little glazed, but she stayed close. "I feel happy. It's the first time in months."

"I'm glad."

Mumbling, she said, "You should. You helped me get here."

He pulled away from her and walked a few steps back. He ran his hand through his growing hair.

"What? What's wrong? Did I say something drunkenly inappropriate?"

He turned away from her. "You just said 'drunkenly inappropriate'. I don't think you're that far gone."

She shook her head. "Then what is it?"

He turned back to look at her. His muscles were tense and jumping with anxiety. "You just told me that I helped make you happy."

She looked at him like he had lost his mind. "That's a bad thing? You're my friend. You helped me out. We helped each other out."

He took a step closer. "Is that the only reason? That I'm your friend?"

She blinked. "What else were you expecting?"

"Why did you ask for more tomatoes?"

The question was so far from the response she had expected that her head fell back. "What are you talking about?"

His face looked urgent and almost sick from nervousness. "Your sandwich. That first day we met. You came back to complain that I only put three sun-dried tomatoes on it."

She stared blankly, trying to think back and focus. "Because I wanted more tomatoes. What does this have to do with me being happy?"

_Everything_, he cried in his head. "Why did you even look in your sandwich to count your tomatoes? Who does that? Nobody."

"Are you calling me weird?"

He threw up his hands. "No. I'm sayin' that you were making an excuse to come see me."

Her jaw dropped but no words came out at first. "Why would I do that?"

He stepped even closer. "Because you like me!"

Anger bubbled to the surface. He had forced her to admit her feelings in the way he made her admit everything. She felt the need to do the same back. "And what about you?"

His brow furrowed. "What about me?"

She bent slightly over towards him in an angry stance. "Why would you put flyers for your deli up in Mode?"

He looked at her sarcastically. "I don't know. To promote my deli maybe."

"Why?" she asked, stepping closer. "You had told everyone when you quit how fattening your sandwiches are. There's no way that they would ever go to your deli. And coupons for free cookies? Please! These people claw each other's eyes out for Gucci bags. You really think they are going to want a coupon? And especially for a cookie!"

"What's your point?"

"That you like me, too!"

They stood perfectly straight now as they realized what they had just said to each other and how close they were standing.

"You like me?" he asked in a gravelly whisper.

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "Only if you like me, too."

He came as close as he could without touching her and looked in her eyes. "And Henry?"

She looked down. "It took a long time, but I'm over it now. I'll always care, but I'm not in love with him anymore." Taking a deep breath, she asked, "What about Dulce?"

"I'll always care, too, but we're done." He looked at her intently for a few moments without speaking. Then he said, "Tell me. I've got to hear it."

She felt like she couldn't breathe. "I like you."

Without hesitation, he reached out and pulled her to him. His hand was on the back of her head as he guided her to him. He held her for a breathless moment until he leaned in. His lips sought hers and Betty kissed him back. Her hands slid up to his chest and face. They moaned as pent up emotions were released recklessly and passionately. He ran his fingers through her hair as she caressed the back of his neck.

When they finally let go of the kiss, he put his forehead on hers. "I like you, too," he finally said.

They laughed and she reached up to kiss him again.

A fast beat song started pumping beneath them. He took her hand and spun her and then pulled her to him again.

They laughed and danced and kissed halfway through the night.

When he took her home, he took her hand and said, "I'll call you in the morning."

She smiled giddily. "Goodnight, Gio."

"Goodnight, Betty," he said, then leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the mouth.

She got out of the car and went inside. She found her sister sitting in the living room. "Why are you still up, Hilda?"

"Ay, chica, you know why I'm up. You've been gone for hours! What happened?"

Betty gave her a blank look. "He had expectations," she said, but as she walked by her sister, she let a small smile dance on her lips.

TBC


	20. First Date

Chapter 20

Betty woke up to the sound of buzzing on her nightstand. Reaching over Pepito, she grabbed her cell phone and opened it. The screen flashed a picture of a smiling pickle, the photo she had taken to save under Gio's name. She grinned and quickly tried to take off her headgear in order to answer the phone. "Hi," she said excitedly.

In a deeper, thicker voice than usual, he said, "Good morning."

"You're calling early," she said with a silly smile.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" he asked, concern in his voice.

She shook her head. "No! I just wondered if you were at work yet."

"No, I'm still in bed."

The simple declaration and the rough voice that said it made her breath catch in her chest. As she lay in her own bed, she couldn't help but picture him in his. She could see him lying on his back, his arm underneath his head, his knee bent and swaying idly from side to side. She wondered how the stubble on his chin felt in the morning, how it would feel against her cheek, against her stomach. She didn't think he was a pajamas man, but she wondered if he slept in his boxers. She wondered if he _wore_ boxers. She wondered if he slept in nothing.

"Betty? Are you still there?"

His words cleared her head and she stammered, "Yeah, yes. I'm…I'm here."

He chuckled softly, the laughter rumbling into her ear seductively. "I had a really nice time last night."

She blushed as she remembered his lips against hers. "Me too."

Humor returning to his voice, he said, "So, do you think you might want to try it again?"

She curled into her pillow and said, "Sure."

"How about tonight?"

She crinkled her nose, saying, "I'd love to, but I'll be at Justin's play tonight."

"Tomorrow?"

She smiled again. "That sounds great."

"Good. I'll pick you up at 8:00 then. Where do you want to go?" he asked, excitement now lilting his voice.

She thought hard and a few moments later said, "I'd really like to go dancing again."

"Okay, we'll go dancing then." In a quiet voice, he said slowly, "I can't wait to see you again."

Her legs curled beneath her. "Me neither."

"I'll see you then, Betty. Have a good day."

"You, too. Bye." She hung up and turned so that she was lying on her back. Staring at the ceiling, she stretched. She felt so healthy and alive…except for the scratchiness in her throat. Choosing to ignore it, she jumped out of bed and hummed happily as she headed for the shower.

Passing Hilda's bedroom as she went, she saw her sister lying in bed, staring blankly at the wall. Stepping into the room, she knocked on the door. "Good morning, Hilda."

Blandly, her sister said, "Morning, Betty."

She sighed and sat down on the bed. "Hilda, what's going on? You've been acting weird all month."

Hilda looked away. She was tired of bottling in what she felt. "I was seeing a guy."

Betty's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "A guy? Who?"

Shaking her head, she answered, "I met him after you went to Tucson. You wouldn't know him."

Betty put her arm over Hilda's leg and leaned closer to her, saying, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Tears threatened to well in her eyes. "I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. I guess I was right not to."

Betty's lip pouted, her heart hurting for her sister. "It didn't work out?"

A tear fell from her eye now as she shook her head. Betty leaned down and hugged her sister tightly. "Betty, it just hurts. I'm so tired of hurting."

Betty squeezed her arms around her, saying, "It will get better, Hilda. I promise. I never thought I would be but I'm happy again. And you will be, too."

They held each other for several minutes until the tears stopped and hope seemed possible again.

………………………………………

Gio was at home that night making a plate of his mother's lasagna she had made him. He could barely concentrate all day and now was no different. The taste of Betty's lips was driving him crazy. He yearned to taste her again. Her perfume smelled so soft and sweet. He loved how her body had molded to his around his arms, next to his chest.

He was excited to go dancing with her again tomorrow. He was right. He had never felt closer to _any _woman than when he held her close, when he swayed with her, when he felt her breath on his neck, when he kissed her. There was no other moment he wanted to be in, no other woman he wanted to share it with.

These were the thoughts that swirled through his mind from the moment he took her home the night before to now as he ate his dinner. Calling her that morning had not helped either. Before he had opened his eyes, she was his first thought. When he did open his eyes, he couldn't resist reaching over to his nightstand and grabbing his cell phone. As he had laid in bed and knew that she knew he was lying there, he wondered if she were in bed, too. What was she wearing? What did her bedroom look like? Was she wondering the same about him?

He finished eating and rinsed off his plate. Putting the plate in the dishwasher, he grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down in his favorite chair. He tried to watch baseball but his eyes kept wandering over to his cell phone. What he really wanted to do was to call Betty and ask her how her day went. But he would play it cool for now and wait for tomorrow. As soon as morning came, though, he knew he would call her again.

…………………………………**..**

With a big smile, he said, "Morning, Betty."

"Gio?" Betty asked coarsely. Her throat hurt so badly that the words did not want to escape.

His brows knit together and he strained over the phone to hear her voice. "Betty? Are you okay?"

Her lip pouted as she said, "I'm sick. I'm so sorry about our date tonight."

"Don't worry about it," he said, shaking his head. "You just need to get better, okay?"

She blinked pitifully and her nose crinkled. "Okay."

With much concern in his voice, he said, "I'll see you soon. Get some rest."

She was already starting to fall asleep again as she said, "Goodbye, Gio."

………………………………………**.**

That afternoon, Gio knocked on the door. Betty's father answered the door.

"Hey, Gio. What brings you by?"

"Hi, Ignacio," Gio said in a friendly tone. Lifting up a paper bag with a smiling pickle in the center, he said, "I brought Betty some soup. How's she doing?"

His face showing all the seriousness of a protective parent, he said, "She's better, but she's still in bed."

Gio's eyes drifted up the staircase. "Would you mind if I go see her?"

Ignacio eyed him for the first time, saying, "Just don't wear her out."

"I won't," he said earnestly. He crept up the stairs, afraid to possibly wake her. Once he found her bedroom, he knocked softly on the door. "Betty?"

She rolled over and looked in his direction, her squinting eyes trying to focus on his figure. "Gio?"

He smiled and walked further into the room. "How are you feeling?"

Her face scrunched as she said, "Like I got kicked in the chest by a really big mule."

His eyebrows rose as he smiled slightly. Standing over her, her stroked her hair, pulling strands from her face. He touched her forehead, saying, "I don't think you have fever. Are you hungry? I brought soup."

Her face brightened and she scooted to sit up in bed, putting on her glasses. "Is it chicken and noodle?"

His smile widened. "Of course." Sitting down at the edge of the bed, he brushed against her thigh, but both ignored how comfortable and exciting it felt. Taking a Styrofoam cup and a plastic spoon out of the bag, he took off the lid and handed it to Betty. "Here. It's hot but it should help your throat."

She readily took the soup. Letting the warm broth caress her neck as she swallowed, she closed her eyes. "Thank you, Gio. This is so good."

He shrugged at the compliment. Refocusing his eyes pointedly at her, he waved his finger at her. "Just make sure to eat all of that. You need to get better as soon as possible."

She rolled her eyes. "Look at that," she said sarcastically. "I'm getting better already."

He smiled. "You laugh now, but that soup is an old family remedy. You'll be feeling good in no time."

As if his words were prophetic, she did start to have more energy as she finished eating. As she took the last bite, she realized that he had been watching her eat. She immediately became self-conscious of her clammy skin, stringy hair, and sickly face. She was grateful that she had taken a shower that morning to try to feel better, but she still worried that she looked horrible in front of him. But he oddly didn't seem to notice. She watched him watch her, his eyes drifting over her face and body with inquiring and bright eyes. She took the time to observe him as well. As much as she would never admit it, she loved his new short hair. She had gotten a thrill out of rubbing his head as they kissed and danced two nights before. She longed to do it again. And his smile, the one he was giving her now, always gave her butterflies. It was just so genuine and brightened his face. But what always got her going was that look. The one when there was fire in his eyes and a teasing smile on his lips. The look he always got when he decided to tease the hell out of her. When he added biting his lip to that look, she often felt the need to yell at him and then tear off his clothes.

She blushed at the thought. She didn't think she would be thinking about sex this quickly into the relationship. They hadn't even gone on their first date yet and she was already fantasizing about how he would make love to her. Visualizing certain moves, kisses, and bites made her blush ever more.

"Betty? Are you okay?" he asked, nervously, putting his hand to her forehead again. "You look hot. Do you have a fever?"

She chuckled softly, the cold making it sound like a gurgle erupting from her chest. "No, I do feel better." She remembered again they should be on their first date right now. "Gio, I'm so sorry. I wanted to go out tonight."

"You don't need to apologize to me. You're sick. You can't help that," he said, shaking his head.

She closed her eyes again, refusing to let it go. "But I ruined your night. We were supposed to be dancing right now."

He looked at her sympathetically. "You think you ruined my night?" When she nodded, he said, "Betty, when I tell you about all of the exciting things I want to do with you, it's not because I need to do exciting things. It's because I want to experience those things with _you_." He leaned over her and took her hand, saying, "Simple things like sitting here together when you're sick is fine with me, too, because as long as you're happy with who you're with and what you're doing, that's all that matters."

Now she really wanted to take off his clothes. He said a lot of things that could really piss her off, but this time he had said exactly what she needed and wanted to hear. Looking into his eyes, she gave him a small smile and said, "I just really like dancing with you."

He looked at her, his breath caught in his lungs. "Do you feel strong enough to stand up?"

Her forehead wrinkled confusedly. "Yeah, why?"

Standing up, he took the empty cup from her hands and put it on the nightstand. He held out his hand, gesturing for her to give him hers. "Dance with me."

Her mouth fell open a little. "Gio, I'm sick."

"So?" he asked, staring at her blankly. "You said you were strong enough to stand. It might help you to move for a little while."

She let out a breath of surprised air. "Do you want to hold me? What if I make you sick?"

He gave her a cocky smile. "I'm tougher than I look."

She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He got a good look at her rubber ducky pajama bottoms and the yellow shirt that matched them. He gently pulled her closer to him so that he was holding her tightly. They swayed slightly so as to move but not exert too much energy. She put her head in the crook of his neck, feeling the soft cotton of his t-shirt and smelling his warm cologne, his head coming down to rest on the crown of hers.

He put his hands low on her back so that they were just above the curve of her hips. He wished that somehow by holding her, he could make her cold go away, that he could heal her. He felt like she had healed him and he had never thought of himself as sick or broken. But life had suddenly gotten brighter when she appeared. Food tasted better, music sounded sweeter, and even though he knew it was a ridiculous cliché, he loved how this woman made him feel. He hoped that he made her feel the same way, even in the slightest.

They danced in silence, listening to each other breathe. Finally, they stepped even closer together until they were skin to skin, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip. It became immediately evident to both that she was not wearing a bra. As her chest brushed up against his, she sucked in air. Her body reacted instantly to the contact and her stomach lunged at the feeling. He had felt it as well and his body became rigid. Reflexively the hand he had on her back pulled her hips into his, causing the softness of the V between her thighs to rub against the roughness of the fly of his jeans. Their bodies strained from the intoxicating feeling. Her pajama bottoms were so thin that it felt as if he was resting against her naked legs. She was starting to feel his body's reaction against her leg. She looked up at him inquiringly to see what he was going to do.

He cleared his throat and said, "Maybe this wasn't a great idea."

She didn't break eye contact with him as she said, "Maybe it was."

Her boldness wasn't helping him calm down. He forced himself to pull away from her. "You should probably get back into bed now."

She nodded, surprised by her own declaration. "I am getting kind of sleepy."

"Then you better get some rest," he said, pulling the sheets back for her. Once she was in bed, he pulled the sheets back over her snuggly. He grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and put it by the side of her bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she took off her glasses.

"I thought I'd stay here for a while in case you needed anything," he said as he sat down. "Is that okay?"

She was touched by the gesture. "Yeah, if you want to."

He gave her one sure nod. "Good. I do."

She watched him sit there until her eyes became too heavy and she fell asleep. He watched her until his eyes did the same and sleep overcame him as well.

Thus ended their first date, both of them asleep in her bedroom—one sick, but both feeling like they had never felt better.

TBC


	21. Surprises and Secrets

I'm sorry that it has been forever, but I've had terrible writer's block. Thanks to all of you who have continued to wait and read this. I'm very grateful for you all!

Chapter 21

Betty and Gio were sitting at the Rossi family dinner table with his parents, Andre, and Antonella.

Paz scooped potatoes onto her plate as she looked over the rim of her glasses. "We've heard a lot about you, Betty. It's nice to finally meet you."

Betty smiled, saying, "It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Rossi."

Gio's father snorted. "Please call us Carlo and Paz. Looking at all of you young people, we don't want to feel any older than we have to."

Everyone laughed. Andre shrugged, saying, "Well, it's about time you two got together. If I had to see Giovanni mope around the deli one more day, I think I would have quit."

Gio gave him a cocky smile and took Betty's hand. "I don't think you have to worry about quitting, tio. You're fired."

"You can't fire my brother, mijo," Paz said, sighing. "We'd have to start feeding him all of the time."

Antonella scoffed. "We already do."

A few minutes later, Carlo changed the subject by saying, "So, Giovanni, how's your plans for Italy coming?"

Gio looked down at the table and took in a deep breath. "Good, Pop. I've been saving and should be able to go in a couple months."

Betty leaned close to him and squinted, confused. "What plans for Italy?"

His family became quiet as they realized that he had not told her yet. Gio said, "I've been planning a trip to Italy for months."

Betty paled. "What?"

"It's a part of my five year plan. I'm going for a month to discover my flavor."

Her eyes bulged, "A month!"

His voice lowered and he said close to her, "I was going to tell you soon."

Betty composed herself and asked, "We'll talk about this later, right?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

After Betty left, Gio went back inside the house.

His mother was standing behind him. "She's cute, mijo. Una gordita, no?"

"Mamita!"

She put her hands up. "What? It's a good thing. She's an eater. There're so many girls now that think they should be a size zero. All these Latina women have forgotten that we're supposed to have curves. These hips don't lie, mijo.

He pointed his finger at her. "That's it. I'm taking your Shakira cd away."

She laughed loudly and freely, patting either side of his face. "You can't censor the old, mi amor. We're too senile to know."

His face turned serious. "What do you think of her, mamita. Que tal pareció Betty?"

She smiled. "Si, me gusta. Especially because _you _like her. I trust your judgment." She looked over her glasses at him. "Except for that one time when you dated the girl that tried to burn down the house."

He looked at her deadpanned. "You're never going to let that one go, are you?"

Her smile faded and she asked, "Why didn't you tell her about Rome?"

He sat down on the couch and let out a breath. "We've been through a lot. From Henry to Dulce—we were just getting somewhere. I wanted to be sure we really had something before I left."

She cocked an eyebrow. "And are you sure?"

As he thought about it, a smile slowly spread across his face. "Yes, Mamita. I'm sure."

…………………………………**.**

A couple of days later, Betty was eating dinner with her own family. "I can't believe he's going to Rome in a couple months. I won't see him for four weeks!"

Ignacio rolled a tortilla and took a bite before he said, "He won't be gone forever, Betty. You have to let him follow his dream as you follow yours."

She shook her head. "I know. I know! But we're getting so close. I'll miss seeing him every day."

The sentiment was so sweet that Hilda almost starting crying. Before she could do anything, there was a knock at the door and Justin sprang up to answer it. When he came back, he said, "Mom, Daniel's here to see you."

Betty's brow furrowed. "You mean me, Justin?"

"No, he said he wanted to talk to Mom."

Hilda started waving her hands, clearly upset. "Well, I don't want to talk to him."

Daniel busted into the room. "You have to, Hilda. Please."

Tears now stung at her eyes. "No, Daniel. There's nothing left to say."

His hair was a mess, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked pale and exhausted. "Yes, there is." He knelt down in front of her chair and took her hands. "I should have told you when you left me. I haven't been with another woman since the first night we slept together."

"You slept together?" Betty shrieked.

Justin's face scrunched. "I so don't want to know this." Ignacio dropped his taco to the plate.

Daniel's eyes pleaded with Hilda's. "I don't want anyone else. I know you worry about Justin, but I want to be there for him. I want to take care of him like I want to take care of you. You have swept me away, Hilda. I love you."

A tear finally fell from her eye. She looked at his wearied face and said, "I love you, too."

He smiled. "Yeah?"

She laughed and nodded. "Yeah." He grabbed her and kissed her, holding her close to him.

When everyone calmed down, Betty asked, "When did this happen?"

Daniel and Hilda held hands as they sat together. "A couple weeks after you left for Tucson," her sister said.

Betty pointed at him saying, "Daniel is the guy you've been crying about for two months?"

Hilda looked at him lovingly. "Yeah, but not anymore." They kissed.

Betty eyed them sickly. "You both lied to me."

Daniel interjected, saying, "Betty, we didn't want to tell anyone until we knew that it was going to work out. When we broke up, we thought it was best not to say anything. But now we're sure."

It was two secrets too many for Betty. "I need to leave for a while."

Hilda stood up. "Betty, we weren't trying to hurt you or anything."

Betty put her hand up to stop her. "I know and I'm happy for you, but I want to go clear my head."

Half an hour later, Betty was in the backroom of Gio's deli. They were sitting on a couch, her back resting against his chest. "I had no idea that they were seeing each other. How could I miss that?"

Gio stroked her hair with one hand as he hand his other hand firmly around her waist. "Maybe you just didn't want to see it. You were going through a lot of your own stuff at the time."

She frowned, saying, "But it can't just be me. No one else saw it either."

He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well, I was pretty sure they were."

Her head whipped around to see him. "What?"

He nodded. "I wasn't sure, but they seemed like two people who were sleeping together at your birthday party."

Her mouth dropped and she hit him hard in the shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Ow!" Grabbing his shoulder in pain, he said, "It wasn't my place to. If they didn't want to tell you, they had a reason."

"And after you and I started dating—why didn't you tell me then?"

He shifted on the couch, not liking where the conversation was headed. "They seemed to have already broken up by then. There was no reason to."

She got up and swiftly went towards the door. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

He quickly followed her into the front of the deli. "Are you really going to get angry at me about this?"

The muscles in her back tightened. "Gee, Gio, it looks like I am."

He put his hands out in front of him. "Betty, it's not really any of our business whether they are together or not. They had no obligation to tell you."

"Guess you don't have any obligation to tell me anything either." She opened the front door and went through it.

It was starting to rain but they both walked out onto the sidewalk. "That's what this is about, isn't it?" Gio asked forcefully. "You're mad at me that I didn't tell you about Rome."

Betty finally stopped walking and turned to look at him. "I'm just a little sick of people lying to me, Gio."

He threw his hands up. "I didn't lie to you. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you."

"And when was that time, Gio?" she asked, her hair starting to dampen from the rain.

He stepped closer to her, saying, "I didn't want to tell you because the thought of not seeing you for thirty days kills me. I want to see your smile. I want to hear your laugh. I even want to hear you yelling at me. And I will miss that everyday I'm gone. I'll miss _you_."

She searched his eyes. "Then why are you leaving?"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Because I have to follow my dreams. I have to fulfill my goals. Just like you. We'd both eventually resent each other if we gave up what we wanted for each other. I need you, Betty. But I need my five year plan, too."

It rained harder now as she breathed harder. "Am I a part of your five year plan, too?"

His face broke out into a wide smile. "Of course you are. I want you in my life."

"I want you in my life, too."

He smiled. "I love you so much."

"What?"

He trailed his finger down her cheek and over her bottom lip, saying, "I've been waiting months to tell you. I love you."

Tears welled in her eyes. "I love you," she said. She kissed him on the lips. Their clothes clung to their bodies as the water fell around them. They kissed and hugged and caressed. "We should go in. We're getting soaked!" she said, laughing.

He shook his head. "No, let's stay right here." He licked rain from her lips.

She laughed, saying, "You are crazy!"

He took her hand and started to dance. They walked around for hours, splashing each other with puddles, dancing, kissing, and playing in the rain.

When she went home that night, she had forgiven Hilda, Daniel, and Gio for their secrets. She was too happy to hold it against them. She was a woman in love.

TBC


	22. First Times

Okay, we're just about to the end of this fic and the rating has finally become M! Thanks for reading this far and let me know what you think!

Chapter 22

Betty and Gio were sitting close in a restaurant booth eating a bowl of ice cream together. She put a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and blushed when she saw him watching her, smiling. "What?" she asked with her mouth full.

He watched her innocently lick a sprinkle from her bottom lip. "fI like watching you eat."

"You can make anything sound dirty." She laughed nervously.

He licked his thumb and wiped chocolate from her cheek. "That's because anything _can _be dirty."

She looked down at the table, spinning her spoon in the bowl. "We haven't really had that talk yet."

He looked at her, blinking. "That talk?" As the light bulb went off, his eyes got bigger. "You mean _that _talk?"

She ducked her head down and shushed him. Quietly, she said, "Yes."

"Do you want to have that talk now?"

Waving her hands emphatically, she said, "Well, I don't know if I want to have it here where my parents took Hilda and me for all of our birthdays, but yes, I'd like to have it soon."

"I took the test a couple months ago. I have a clean bill of health. You?"

She squirmed. "I got tested after Henry and I broke up. I'm okay, too."

He leaned closer. "And you're…?"

She nodded. "On the pill."

He put his hand on hers which had been fidgeting. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She looked into his eyes, seeing his concern. It calmed her immediately. Her smile was small but sure. "I'm ready. Are you?"

Uncontrollably, he put his hand on her neck and jaw, putting his face only inches from hers. "I've been ready for almost a year."f

Flattered, she smiled and brushed her face farther into the embrace of his hand. "When do you want to…?"

He grinned at her inability to say it. "Make love?" he asked in a low whisper.

She nodded, her heart fluttering at his old-fashioned and romantic choice of words.

Rubbing a strand of her hair between his finger and thumb, he said, "That's up to you."

She looked away as she thought about it. "What about Friday?"

He looked at her with expectant, questioning eyes. "Yeah?"

She reached up and tugged the front of his shirt. "Yeah."

"We'll meet at my place, okay? I want to cook dinner for you."

She looked at her favorite spots on his face, her eyes resting on his lips. "Sounds delicious," she said letting the double entendre stand.

"Yes, it does," he growled, picking up on the double meaning. He kissed her softly and quickly. "Do you know how much it will kill me to wait four days?"

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "I can guess."

They got up, paid the bill, and drove back to Betty's house. They held hands up to the front door. When they turned to look at each other, she put her hands on his chest and he put his on her waist, tugging her hips to his.

He nuzzled her neck and groaned, "You shouldn't smell so good all of the time. Makes a man wish it was Friday."

Giggling as his lips tickled her neck, she said, "What about you? You feel too good to be true."

He instantly pulled away and focused on her eyes. "Don't think that, Betty. Don't ever think you're not deserving of everything you want and need."

She cupped his face with her hands. "It's just that you've been such a blessing this year."

He shook his head solemnly. "No, Betty. You've been mine."

She cried out softly, "Oh, I don't want to go inside."

He tapped her on the nose. "You have to so that you go to bed and Friday is one day sooner."

"Goodnight, Gio," she said, running her hand from his chest to his belly.

He kissed her cheek and then her mouth. "Night, palomita."

Her forehead wrinkled. "What does that mean?"

He rubbed her arms with his hands. "It's Spanish for _little dove_."

Heat rushed up from the base of her back and the bottom of her stomach. "You better go now."

Seeing the look in her eyes and knowing that it mirrored his own, he said, "Yeah." He kissed her again and then got in his van.

………………………………………….

The next day, she could barely concentrate at work. Who was she kidding? She couldn't concentrate at all. She kept feeling Gio's touch on her skin, his voice in her ear. She was so nervous that her throat was dry and she was on her third bottle of water that day.

She often glanced at her day planner and calendar. _Friday. Friday. Friday. _She was surprised by the contrasts of Gio and Henry. Henry had been so organized and yet their first time was completely spontaneous. Now that she was with Gio, a genuinely spontaneous man, they had _planned _their first time. She wondered if that was the way to balance a relationship.

At lunch, she took two sandwiches Gio had prepared for her to the closet, knowing that Christina had too much to do to leave the floor to eat. When she found her, Betty said, "I thought you could use a lunch break."

Christina sighed dramatically. "Oh, Betty, you're a lifesaver."

"Well, you are eating for two. I thought you should have something."

They sat at an empty table in the closet as they ate their sandwiches. Christina noticed Betty's jittery movements and jumpy attitude. "Are you okay?"

She laughed forcefully and nervously. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm fine. I'm fine."

Christina cocked an eyebrow. "You don't seem fine."

Sighing, she set down her sandwich. Without looking at her friend, she said, "Gio and I decided last night that we were going to…well…going to…"

Christina's eyes bulged. "You're going to have sex!"

Betty rolled her eyes. "Do you think you could say that a little louder? I don't think Amanda heard you."

Christina swallowed her bite of bread. "I'm sorry but this is the first time in months." She stuck out her bottom lip as she thought about it. "Actually, it's been months since either of us have had sex," she said, patting her pregnant belly. "I really can't take it anymore."

Betty smiled and got back on topic. "I think I'm ready to move on now."

"You are?"

She nodded. "And I really want to move on with Gio."

Christina grinned. "Then you should do it." After a few moments of silence, she growled, "Oh, Betty, I bet he's a stallion. You'll have to tell me what he looks like naked."

"Christina!"

She frowned, rubbing her stomach again. "Sorry. Damn hormones again."

………………………………………….

Friday night couldn't come soon enough. But once it did, Betty was in her bedroom preparing. She had packed an overnight bag. She was wearing her favorite black skirt and a soft black blouse to compliment it. She brushed her hair so that it would fall naturally and feel silky.

Hilda came in with a lip gloss in her hands. "Here, try this," she told her sister, handing her the tube. "It doesn't smudge off that bad when you go to kiss him."

Betty was holding her breath as she took the gloss. "Thanks."

She put her hand on her jutted-out hip. "Are you ready to do this, Betty?"

Betty had told her family that she was staying over at Gio's and had prayed that her father wouldn't ask her any further questions. But she knew that she could talk to Hilda. "It's been long enough."

Hilda patted her on the shoulder, grinning. "Well, just don't get too nervous."

Immediately her palms got sweaty. "Why would I be nervous?"

Hilda shrugged. "I just meant that he's probably really experienced and you're not. But that's okay."

"Of course that's okay. Why wouldn't it be? Just because I don't know as much as he does…that's no reason that he wouldn't still like it…um, I mean wouldn't still want…to…Everything's going to be fine!" she finally blurted.

"Sure it is, Betty," Hilda said as she turned away from her and left the room, rolling her eyes at her sister's outburst.

Once she was ready, she got her bag, raced down the stairs, yelled, "Bye!" and hurried into Hilda's car, which she had borrowed for the night. At Gio's apartment, she got out of the car, took a deep breath, and dragged her bag from the passenger seat. She went to the entrance and hit the buzzer.

"Yeah?" a familiarly husky voice asked on the other side of the line.

Her throat went dry. "It's me."

"Come on up."

She walked upstairs and knocked on the door. When he opened the door, she was greeted by his warm smile and the smell of baking lasagna.

"Hi," he said in a slow, expectant voice, his hand still on the door.

She smiled. "Hi."

"You look great," he said, eyeing her up and down.

"So do you." He was wearing uncharacteristic black slacks and a deep maroon button down shirt.

"Come here," he said, pulling her close to him. He hugged her tight as they took in each other's warm scents. Giving her a quick kiss, he took the bag from her shoulder. "I'll put this in the bathroom."

She blushed and nodded. "Okay." As he headed for the bathroom, she spun slowly to look at his apartment. The walls were warm beige. There was a comfy-looking couch on one wall that was two shades darker than the walls and a leather chair in front of the television that looked well sat in. The living room and kitchen were dark, the only light being several large decorative candles sitting about the two rooms and two candles that were sitting on the kitchen table. There were a few pictures of his family on his entertainment center and on a table with a cd player next to it. Soft music drifted from the player. The apartment felt enticing, stylish, and masculine. When he came back to the living room, she said, "Gio, your apartment is amazing."

He smirked. "You sound surprised."

"I guess I am a little."

Heading to the kitchen, he looked back at her and said, "My mother works at a furniture outlet. She's helped me out a lot."

She followed him into the kitchen. He pulled her chair out for her and she sat down. He scooped two portions of lasagna into two plates and gave one to each of them as he sat down. Opening a bottle of wine, he poured it in their glasses.

"You didn't have to do all this for me," she said, slightly overwhelmed.

He smiled at her. "I wanted to." He held up his glass so that she would clink hers against his. When she did, they drank from their glasses. "Salud."

She swallowed the red wine. "Salud."

They ate and laughed and told each other stories about their childhoods and what had happened that day. Once they finished, he took their plates and put them in the sink. Standing next to her, he extended his hand. She looked up at him questioningly. Chuckling softly, he said, "I thought we could dance for a while."

She laughed, letting go of some of her nerves. She took his hand and stood up, following him back to the living room. He put one arm around her waist and took her hand in his. "Ah, this feels so right," he said as he held her firmly to him.

In response, she put her head on his shoulder and let him and the music carry her away. They danced like that for what felt like hours. When she felt him lightly kiss the top of her head, then her cheek, then her neck, her body tensed.

Feeling the tension, he pulled just far enough away to look at her. "What's wrong? Do you not want to do this?"

She shook her head. "No, no. It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"This is…" she started but couldn't find the right words. "…our first time together. And this is only my third first time while I'm guessing it's your…well, you've probably had a lot of them."

Chuckling, he put his hand under her chin, prodding her to look up as he rubbed her chin with his thumb. "I've been with a few more women. That's true." He looked into her eyes, pleading with her to listen to him. "But, Betty, I'm nervous, too"

She nearly cried out from relief and shock. "You are?"

He smiled. "Of course I am. I've never been with a woman that's meant as much as you do to me."

She shook her head. "But what if I'm not good?"

"Betty, I'm scared that I won't be good enough for you, just like you're afraid, too. We'll just have to trust each other, okay?"

She gave him a small smile and nodded. "Okay."

He stroked her cheek with his hand. "I just know that I want to wake up tomorrow and see you next to me."

"Me too."

Taking that as his cue, he kissed her softly on the lips as he hugged her. Raising her hands to either side of his face, she played with loose strands of his growing hair. Whispering into her ear, he said, "Wait here, okay?" She nodded and watched him slip into his bedroom. She stood there anxiously for about five minutes until he came back. When he emerged again, he walked up to her slowly, never taking his dark eyes from her. Taking her hand, he led her to the bedroom. With his hands on her waist, he said, "Are you ready?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes."

He opened the door and let her go through first. She was taken aback by what she saw. The room was dark, but several candles were lit around the room on dressers. There were some rose petals sprinkled on the floor from the door to the bed. The bed was masculine yet inviting with the large, dark wooden frame and dark blue blankets. "Gio, this is beautiful."

He came up behind her close without touching her and glanced at her hair and neck and the curves of her back. "I wanted tonight to be perfect."

"It is," she said softly.

He put his arms around her and nuzzled her ear with his nose. "I love you."

She raised her hands to his head. "I love you."

Still behind her, he kissed her neck lightly at first, then he nipped at it lovingly and licked her skin. She moaned softly and tugged at his hair. His hand slid up from her waist, brushing against her breast, and found her arm. He massaged her forearm as his mouth rested against her shoulder. His other hand went underneath her blouse, his fingers rubbing against her warm skin. "Betty, you feel so good."

She sucked in a breath and with what mind she had left, realized that she wanted to be touching him, too. She turned and looked into his hazed eyes. She kissed him soundly on the mouth, then let her tongue slip by his lips to explore his mouth. As her tongue danced with his, she started unbuttoning his shirt. He cupped her head as he felt her hands touch his undershirt. When her hands touched his chest, he could no longer take it and he shrugged off his shirt. He stood there, his strong arms bare, his undershirt the only material preventing her from touching him. She leaned in and kissed his collarbone as she started to tug on his undershirt. His hands came around her back as he tried to touch every inch of her, tried to pull her as close to him as he could. They took off the undershirt together. Her eyes took in his firm chest, the trail of hair from his navel that snuck underneath his pants. She touched either side of his chest lightly with the tips of her fingers and then kissed him, flicking her tongue against his skin. He gasped and held onto her tightly.

Delicately, he slipped off her sweater as he looked into her eyes, listening to her shallow breaths. He then found the hem of her blouse and started to pull it off. She stopped him with her hands. She wanted to take off her shirt herself. She wanted him to know that she was revealing herself to him, all of her. She slipped off her shirt and then her skirt. He looked at her with love and awe. "Betty, you're beautiful."

She smiled and pulled him to her with a tug on his belt buckle. He was surprised that she started to unbuckle it. He helped her take the belt off and unzip his pants. A few moments later, they were standing in front of each other naked. He guided her to the bed and threw back the blankets. She lay down and reached for him to follow her. He kissed her again tenderly on the lips. Then he kissed the dip where her neck met her chest. She caressed his face and head as he took her breast in his mouth and tugged. "Gio," she called, crying out. She bit her lip and shut her eyes as he kissed her stomach, nipping her skin with his front teeth.

His hand glided from her knee to her thigh until he found the crook of her hip. His hand dusted over her center ever so lightly, just enough to tease her. He left a trail of kisses from her navel back up to her chest until he reached her mouth. When he felt they were both ready, he entered her. They both groaned and looked into each other's eyes before he started to move inside her. He held her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. Her legs came up around his hips and hugged him tightly. Her hands stroked his back, then daringly slid down to his bottom so that she could pull him closer to her. His eyes rolled back and he moaned. As he felt the world start to pull away, he pumped faster and ground his body closer to hers so that she may come with him. Her breathing became choppy and she cried out. They clung together as they came.

A few moments later, he was lying next to her, his forehead resting against hers, his arm around her. "Betty, that was incredible."

She chuckled. "And you were right."

His face wrinkled. "About what?"

She scratched his belly with her fingers playfully, saying, "You are a gentle lover."

A smile spread across his face. He was surprised that she had remembered that. But instead of acknowledging it, he raised his eyebrows and in a deeper, alluring voice, he said, "I don't always have to be."

She grinned at him devilishly. "Good."

He grinned. Tickling her, he said, "So Betty Suarez likes it rough, eh?"

She laughed and tried to push him off. "Are you shocked?"

He kissed her nose and said, "Not really."

Her eyebrow cocked. "Oh?"

His eyes danced mischievously. "You try to act all sweet and innocent but there's some spice in there, Suarez. Deep down."

She ran her hand over his jaw line. "You bring it out in me."

"No, I don't," he said, shaking his head. "You bring it out. You don't need anyone to be who you are."

"Well, you helped me realize that I have that inside me."

He traced a pattern of freckles on her arm. "I'm glad I could help."

……………………………….

A few hours later, Betty was lying in bed naked. A smile danced on her lips as she heard Gio coming back from the bathroom. "You're singing," she said.

Standing next to the bed, he looked down at her and smiled. "I'm happy."

Her heart fluttered. "Do you always sing when you're happy?"

He nodded. "Always." He pulled the sheets back and slid into bed next to her. "Let me show you," he whispered into her ear.

"Okay," she giggled.

"You give me fever," he sang close to her lips in a low, quiet voice. He kissed her. "When you kiss me." He licked her collar bone. "Fever when you hold me tight." Her hands ran up his back and into his hair as he went down and kissed her just above her navel. "Fever in the morning." He glanced back up at her with a playful glint in his eyes. "And fever all through the night." He nipped at her skin at her lower stomach, right above the V from her thighs. In a low whisper, she could feel his breath when he said, "Fever all through the night." He softly kissed that most intimate of places.

Her heels dug into the mattress. "Gio," she nervously cried.

Looking up quickly, he said, "It's okay. Just close your eyes and let go." He slid his hands underneath her to bring her closer to him and kissed her again. His tongue slowly trailed in circles, spinning her further and further out of control. His hot mouth licked and flicked and teased until her stomach tightened and her skin felt like it was on fire.

She ran one hand through his hair but she wanted to be even closer to him, wanted to somehow share this experience with him more. Taking one hand, she found his and grasped it. They intertwined fingers and held each other tight. She breathed harder, her back arching off the bed. His slow circles had become faster, harder, and felt so good that it was almost painful. Her legs began to shake and the heat had grown too much to bear. When she knew that she could no longer hold it, she shut her eyes and let the waves of her orgasm wash over her.

Once she came, Gio laid down next to her, resting on his elbow. Lovingly, he looked at her face, her eyes still closed. He wiped sweat from her forehead and smiled. "You are so beautiful."

Blushing, she forced herself to open her eyes. "And that was amazing."

His eyes shone with male pride. But then he looked closer at her reaction. His eyebrow flinched with curiosity. "Has no one done that for you before?"

Her blush grew deeper and she looked away. She shook her head. "Walter thought it was…gross and I never asked Henry to do it."

He ran his free hand down her stomach. "You shouldn't have to ask. It's a pretty natural part of sex, Betty."

"It's just not something that Henry and I ever talked about doing."

His thumb twirled around her belly button as he looked at her earnestly. "Betty, if there's anything you ever want to do, don't feel afraid to talk to me about it."

Even after all of this time, she was surprised by his blatant sexuality, his ease and honesty. She made designs on his hand with the tip of her finger. She smiled, embarrassed. "I did do something once," she said quietly.

He snuggled closer to her and grinned. "Did you do something kinky?"

She rolled her eyes. "I tried," she said on a laugh.

He nudged her with his hips. "What did you do?"

She looked into his inquisitive eyes. "I tried to do the thing with ice cream."

"Ice cream?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

She took a breath. "Yeah, you had said that if you had so little time left with someone that you would eat ice cream off her stomach. I tried it."

"You tried it?" he asked. He was shocked. He had always thought she had been grossed out by the thought. But apparently it was more of a turn-on to her than what he realized. He loved to know that he had had a bigger impact on her thoughts back then than what he knew. Then he began to realize what she was telling him and said, "You did that with Henry?"

She gave him a small smile. "Well, I _tried _to do it with Henry. I ended up freezing his skin and scalding him at the same time."

He looked down at her serious and embarrassed expression. Uncontrollably, he laughed hard and loudly.

Her mouth dropped. She hit him on the shoulder. "It's not funny!"

"The hell if it isn't," he said, still laughing. He fell back onto the mattress.

She turned over and got on top of him, wrestling with him. "Don't laugh at me," she said, trying to pin his arms to his side, her long hair falling over her face and around him. "See if I ever tell you anything again."

The words made him freeze. Instantly, he put his hands on either side of her face and looked up at her. "You can always tell me anything."

He had said it in such a serious and deep tone that she stopped. Letting go of his hands, she put her hands on his chest. "I know that."

They smiled at each other. In the still moment, they realized that she was straddling him. He brushed her hair from her face and cradled her cheek. "Have you ever done this before?"

Shyly, she shook her head no.

Again, pride took over as he knew that they were about to experience something together once more that she had not done. Taking her hips, he set her over him. He reached between them and guided himself inside of her. With his hands still on her hips, he nudged her forward and said, "Rock back and forth."

She did just that, timidly at first. But she watched his head tilt back and his eyes close and she could hear his rough, short breaths which caused her own heart to beat faster. She became more confident and rocked rhythmically and quicker. He cursed in Spanish and Italian and held on to her tighter. Sliding his hand between them, he took the pad of his thumb and rubbed that spot that was still sensitive from his kissing lips earlier that night. She cried out, clenching his thighs with her legs.

They came together. He reached out and pulled her to him, hugging her close to his body while he was still inside her. Rubbing her back with one hand, he cupped the back of her head with the other.

She rubbed her nose against his neck and kissed him behind his earlobe. "That was perfect," she purred.

They laughed and kissed until he turned them over. He lay behind her, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her softly on the back of the neck and pulled her close.

They fell asleep listening to each other breathe.

TBC


	23. Everything

I was going to write two final chapters, but I decided that this is the final chapter. I think it ends it with finality in this chapter. So I hope you enjoy it. Once again, thank you to all those who have followed this fic to the end. It has very much been appreciated.

Chapter 23

Gio watched Betty sit up and search for last night's shirt to put on. He was delighted that she found his and slipped it on casually. When she turned towards him, he saw that it was unbuttoned and that he could see her nakedness beneath the maroon cloth. His morning arousal was getting harder as he looked at her. He wondered in amazement over Betty worrying about her sexual ability. The night before had proven to be like a dream. The way she kissed, touched, licked, loved, moved—he had never had a better night of sex. He hoped that she felt the same way. As she looked at him with warm eyes and a hint of a seductive smile, he was becoming more and more confident that she did.

He had wanted to wake up next to her and now that he had, he could see himself waking up next to her for the rest of his life. He knew then that he had found her. There was no more dating in his future. No more women. Last night had been his last first time.

In a thick voice, he said, "I like watching you get dressed."

She laughed softly and smirked, looking down at the maroon shirt and pair of black underwear she had on. "I'm not exactly dressed."

He gave her a slow smile. "I like watching that, too."

"You do?" Her head bent down, her hair falling over her face.

He saw her self consciousness and immediately came over to her side of the bed, kneeling on the mattress. He put his hands on her waist as she stood in front of him. He looked into her eyes and said, "Betty, you couldn't be more beautiful to me." He slipped his hand inside her shirt and placed his hand on her heart. "Inside and out."

She smiled and leaned in to kiss him, dipping her tongue into his mouth as she took either side of his head with her hands.

As they pulled away from the kiss, he looked at her dryly, his lips smiling crookedly. "I really do enjoy watching you dress," he repeated.

She ran her hands down his bare chest. "Well, I'll have to get undressed more often so you can see me get dressed again."

"Good plan," he said, nodding at her. "You know? I think I could even see you like this for a month."

She squinted at him, cocking her head. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"No."

Her face noticeably fell and she blinked. "Oh."

He nudged her to him with his hands. "I'm asking you to go to Rome with me."

"What?" she asked, her eyes bulging.

He squeezed her waist and said softly, "After last night, I don't want to wake up without you there. I don't want to experience Rome without you."

She looked into his eyes and thought about the reasons why she shouldn't go. But no reasons came to her and her face brightened as she said, "Okay! I want to go to Rome with you!"

He looked at her pleadingly. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" She beamed and laughed as he pulled her down onto the bed with him, wrestling with her playfully.

He lay on top of her and caressed her cheek with his hand. "Are you sure, Betty?"

Breathily, she looked steadily into his eyes. "Yes, Gio." Her finger delicately traced his bottom lip. "I want everything with you."

He beamed from her choice of words and couldn't help but kiss her. They spent the rest of the morning sharing with each other in love and conversation.

From that day on, they shared everything.

the end


End file.
